


Read All About It (#princemystery)

by hma1313



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Royalty, DCBB, Dean/Cas Big Bang Challenge 2016, Epistolary, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, King Chuck, M/M, Modern Royalty, Newspapers, Prince Alfie, Prince Castiel, Prince Gabriel, Prince Michael, Queen Naomi, Radio Host Dean, Twitter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 06:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8435647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hma1313/pseuds/hma1313
Summary: “I just woke up to find Prince Castiel in my bed! Sammy, what the hell do I do?”It’s two weeks until the most anticipated wedding for decades between Prince Castiel of the House of Novak and Lady Hannah Milton, but Prince Castiel has a few other things on his mind. Just days before the big day, he finds himself spending an evening at a gay club, where he meets Dean, and everything starts to unravel.A tale featuring a mostly inconsolable Twitter fandom, the media sticking their noses into places they don’t belong, and Bombay Sapphire gin.





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> The most important thing to note is that, for the purpose of this fic, Dean was born in 1989, not 1979 as in canon. This makes him 26 at the start of the fic (29 May 2015) and Castiel is 25, born on 28 August, 1990. 
> 
> The newspapers which are featured in this fic, the ‘Court Park Times’ and the ‘Court Park Times On Sunday’ are fictional tabloid newspapers, with a liberal political stance. This is set in Washington D.C., and I’ve tried to make it as accurate as I could, but as I don’t live there, there will probably be some inaccuracies and I apologize in advance. In this instance, the US government is part of a constitutional monarchy, which basically means that whilst the King and Queen are head of state, they don’t actually rule the country – that’s the government/the President’s job, and the existence of the royal family is more ceremonial and to act as a visible symbol for national unity. Please remember that this is a fanfiction: it is not my intention to offend anyone with this. 
> 
> Also, thank you to:  
> \- My amazing beta and IRL friend Summer, who scribbled over my work in red pen for a weekend getting annoyed at the fact that I’d written it in American English (I’m sorry, Summer!). Without her, this story would be a mess of badly structured sentences and questionable plot points, so I can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done.  
> \- My wonderful artist [lotrspnfangirl](http://lotrspnfangirl.livejournal.com/), who stepped in at the last minute to do the art for this fic. I could not have asked for anything better art wise and I’m still amazed at the amount of artwork that she managed to produce in such a short amount of time. Art masterlist [here](http://lotrspnfangirl.livejournal.com/95180.html)
> 
>  
> 
> [Playlist of music from and inspired this fic](https://open.spotify.com/user/1137864142/playlist/3ow5MWwPPtCotxobu5BFWb)

## TWO WEEKS TO GO!

**It’s two weeks to go until what will be the most important wedding of the century, but what does everyone really think about the union between Prince Castiel and Lady Hannah Milton?**

**_By Lillith Green_ **

It’s been a while since we’ve had a Royal Wedding. The last one – or at least the last big one which affected the succession line to the throne – was back in 1985 when the then Prince Charles married Lady Naomi Angelica. So naturally, the world is beginning to get quite excited about the forthcoming union between the House of Novak and the House of Milton. Not only is it a union between two of the most important and oldest families in the country, it shows how love can change the face of history and politics with just one ceremony.

The House of Milton are very distant relatives of the House of Novak: they can trace their lineage back to Princess Ambriel, sister of King Bartholomew I who reigned from 1872 – 1880. Since that union in 1851, the House of Milton have had significant political power in terms of the number of seats their family members hold within the government, and have once held the title of Vice President. So it’s fair to say that a union between these two families would put both of them in good stead – but some people aren’t as convinced by the future wedding.

“I don’t think they’re in love,” said one college student. They can pretend all they want that they are, but I just don’t think that the chemistry is there.”

Chemistry doesn’t seem an important factor within royal marriages, though. Despite the sheer scale of the King and Queen’s wedding in 1985, it has genuinely surprised people that they are still married, with many saying that Queen Naomi only married into the royal family because of the position she’d have over society, and it’s no secret that there’s a bet that’s been going on the past thirty years on how long the marriage will last.

“It’s just a political move,” said another. “It just seems too convenient that they’ve fallen for each other with the positions they hold in society.”

It does seem very convenient, there’s no denying that. However, perhaps, they are in love and this is all pure speculation. The wedding is already promising to be one of the biggest events the country has ever seen: it’s been declared a national holiday and the commemorative souvenirs – the mugs, the specially made coins, and the banners to name but a few – are flying off the shelves. The wedding, which will be held at Washington National Cathedral due to the royal family’s ties to the Episcopal Church, is expected to have two thousand guests, which includes but is not limited to the President, King Uther of England and his son Prince Arthur and his wife Guinevere, the Canadian Prime Minister, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, the King and Queen of Malaysia, the King of Spain, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Japan and the Queen of Denmark. With some of the world’s most powerful people flying into Washington D.C. over the next few weeks, this promises to be an event the world won’t forget any time soon.

But what are your views on the situation? Do you think it’s a fairy tale romance or do you think the marriage is purely for the benefit of the two families? Send your views to youropinion@courtparktimes.com and we’ll include some of them in the next issues of Court Park Times.

Castiel couldn’t remember the last day he’d had where someone hadn’t asked him something about his wedding in two weeks’ time. Ever since he’d asked Lady Hannah Milton to marry him six months ago – which wasn’t something he’d done willingly: his mother, the Queen, had talked him into it, saying things like _it will unite two important families_ and _it will put us in a good position_ and _I’m sure you’ll manage to get along okay_ – it seemed like not a day had gone by without someone asking his opinion on the choice of tablecloth, what food they should serve at the reception, or who he thought they should invite.

It was starting to get boring, and repetitive, and Castiel didn’t even want to marry her anyway.

“Your Highness?”

Castiel got up off his bed and walked over to the door. “Yes Kevin?” he asked as he opened the door, addressing his valet. “What is it?”

The valet swallowed nervously, fiddling with the buttons on the cuffs of his suit before replying. Castiel was sure he had only got the job because his mother was head housekeeper “Your mother wants to see you, Sir. She’s waiting in her study and expects you in fifteen minutes.”

“Thank you Kevin. Tell her I’ll be there. You can go now.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Mother.”

Queen Naomi was sat at her desk, which was situated in the middle of a light room with white walls. In fact, everything was white or silver and walking into Naomi’s study was a stark contrast to the golden hallways and thick red carpets of the rest of the palace.

“Castiel.”

Castiel walked in and sat in one of the expensive white leather chairs on the side of the desk opposite his mother, feeling as if he was in the principal’s office in high school, being told off for something he didn’t do. It was then that he noticed another person sitting in the room, a young woman probably around a similar age to himself who was sitting with a pink notebook and pen in her lap.

“This is Rebecca, the wedding planner,” Naomi said. “I don’t believe you two have met before.”

“Please, call me Becky,” the woman said, smiling widely at Castiel. “I must say, this is such an honor. This is the biggest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life, it’s always something I’ve dreamed of doing, a royal wedding, because they’re so much better than the celebrity wedding because there’s just an element of class about them that a wedding funded by millions of pop records never quite achieves, don’t you think? There really is no expense spared with royal weddings, everyone in the world knows about them and they’re just so special and I can’t believe they chose me to –”

“Thank you, Rebecca,” Naomi said. “I think Castiel gets the message.”

“I am so, so sorry Your Majesty, I didn’t mean to –” Naomi gave Becky a hard stare and she ducked her head. “My apologies.”

“Now we’re all acquainted, let us turn to the matter at hand,” Naomi said, getting up and going through some draws in the corner of the room, bringing out samples of fabric and ribbon and placing them onto her desk. “Last week, we decided on the Titanium White for the tablecloths,” Naomi moved a stiffly starched sample of pristine white cloth to the middle of the desk. “A classic and good choice. However today we are faced with a new decision: the table runners.”

There was a pause in which Castiel was supposed to something like “yes, of course” or “definitely”, but he didn’t say anything. Naomi waited for a moment for her son to fill in the silence before continuing with what she had been saying. Becky stayed silent, scribbling furiously in what looked suspiciously like a glitter gel pen in her notebook.

“So, we have some options, primarily silver and gold, the classic colors, and different variations of those. The flowers and the dress are naturally going to be white, and any of these samples here could be used. All we have to do is decide which one.”

Naomi straightened a couple of the samples whilst Castiel inwardly thought that what his mother really meant was “you say something, I disagree and then we go with whatever I want”. Regardless of whether he wanted to marry Lady Hannah or not, Castiel felt that to be a bit too controlling.

“Castiel.” Naomi was looking at him expectantly, laying out stretches of ribbon with her hands. “What do you think?”

“That silver’s nice.” He pointed to a sample on the far left, plain silver with fine threads of metallic thread running through the fabric. “I think it would go nicely with the dining room.”

Naomi let out a sigh. “Nice, yes, but not enough class, I think. The metallic threads make it look like a cheap scarf one would find in Hot Topic or wherever it is kids get their clothes these days. This one, however, I feel, is more suitable.”

She pushed a piece of gold silk fabric across the desk to him. It was a beautiful fabric, yes, and would do exactly what it was intended to do, but Castiel was beginning to get frustrated.

“I’m sorry, but whose wedding is this?” he asked, pushing the sample back across the table to his mother rather forcefully. “It seems like every single decision I make you decide that no, that isn’t what you want, and change it!”

Naomi sat back in her chair, a frown set into her brow line. “I don’t understand what you mean, Castiel.”

“Don’t you? You’re controlling every last detail of this wedding from the guest list to the _table runners_ and you don’t understand what I mean? Give me a break.”

“I was just –”

“Oh, I’m sure you were! But you can just stop doing what you’re doing right now because it’s doing my head in and I can’t take it anymore!” Castiel got up, pushing his chair across the room as he strode towards the door. “I’m done, Mother. So fucking done.”

“Castiel Charles Henry Novak you come back here this instant!” The veins stood out in Naomi’s neck as she shouted at her son’s retreating back as he left the room. Her eldest son never acted like this, she expected such behavior from his younger siblings Balthazar and Samandriel, and definitely from their cousins, Chuck’s brother’s boys, but not Castiel. Castiel had always done what he was told, but, as the first in line to the throne, Naomi knew he had expectations to fill. He’d always done his best, smiled at the cameras when he had to, said the right things, but today, something had changed. And Naomi could feel it.

“I liked the silver too,” Becky said once Castiel had slammed the door behind him and an uneasy silent had fallen over Naomi’s office. “Although I’m not entirely sure if you want my opinion or not. I’ll be my office if you need me.”

Naomi let out a cry of frustration once Becky had left the room, hands on her desk, crumpling the fabric samples that her maid had got up an hour earlier to iron earlier that morning. The day was off to the worst possible start.

Castiel locked himself in his room all day. Kevin came and brought him lunch and dinner, but he didn’t eat either of them, the smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich lying untouched on the silver tray.

By the time it was dark outside, he’d made up a plan. He walked into his closet and rifled through his entire wardrobe, looking for something that would make him look like less of a prince and more of your average man on a night out looking for a good time. He eventually settled on tight fitting black pants and a white dress shirt, hoping his outfit choice wouldn’t make him stand out too much: being a prince meant, at least in Castiel’s experience, that you led quite a sheltered life within the palace walls. There was no sneaking out to clubs or late night parties, no bringing anyone home for fear of the paparazzi lurking and taking the photos that would end up plastered over the next day’s tabloids.

Castiel casted his eyes over the vast array of ties that had their own section in his closet. Would a tie be too much? On the other hand, would it make him look like less of a prince and more of an office accountant who’d just left work and hadn’t had time to change?

He settled for a thin blue tie, one that Gabriel always insisted brought out his eyes. Now all he had to do was sneak out of the palace and palace grounds and make it to the club without being seen.

The club was called Heaven, aptly named due to the LED lights shaped liked angel wings and halos above the bar and DJ stage. It was well known for its reputation of being the best gay club in the city for both guys and girls, and was seen as the place to be on a Friday night.

A Hardwell track was playing, the bass echoing around the space of the club and the melody bouncing off the walls. Castiel wasn’t used to music being this loud, and knew that he’d probably end up with earache or slightly deaf at the end of the night, but he also knew that it would be worth it.

After he’d shouted his order of gin and tonic to the bartender and handed over the necessary four dollars over the counter; Castiel went and stood on the edge of the dance floor, taking in his surroundings. The dance floor was packed, the guys grinding on each other like they were horny teenagers at a high school party, and out of the corner of his eye he could see two girls heavily making out with one of the girls working one of their hands past the other’s waistband in a southerly direction. Feeling like he was intruding on a private moment, Castiel turned around and decided to go and people watch from another area of the club.

As he sat down on an abandoned stool at the bar, he wondered why he hadn’t formulated a plan for what he’d do when he got to the club. When he’d snuck out of the palace, all he’d had in his head was go to club, have a few drinks, maybe hook up with a guy and go home. But now that he was here, he wasn’t entirely sure how he was going to go about the whole finding a guy thing.

It wasn’t like he was a virgin, because he wasn’t – spending your entire school career at a private boarding school had pretty much guaranteed that. It had been all boys as well, and whilst Naomi had been convinced that would mean Castiel would stay a virgin until marriage, he’d slept with several guys before he’d even left high school, all sworn to secrecy of course. College had granted him even more freedom, but at the same time, he’d had to more careful. Once he’d got his degree, he’d gone back to the palace and done things like opening children’s hospital wards and meeting important people like the British Royal Family in stuffy, forced situations and losing the freedom he once had. Castiel played his part, said the things he was expected to say and then sat through the six courses of fancy food wondering if he’d ever actually do something with his degree in English Literature.

“Thoughts interesting, are they?”

It took Castiel a moment to realize that the person was talking to him, and he turned around on his bar stool to be greeted by a pair of brilliant green eyes and a mischievous smile. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were talking to me,” he said.

“No worries.” The man smiled, taking a sip of his drink. “Not seen you around here before. Think I’d remembered if I had.”

Castiel felt a blush creep across his cheeks and hoped that the lighting would cover his sudden change in complexion. “No, yeah, it’s my first time.”

“First time here? Or first time in a club where you’re gonna leave with a guy and not a girl?”

“First time here. It’s – I mean; I’ve had sex with guys before. I’m not – girls aren’t really my area of expertise.”

“But guys are?”

Castiel drained the last of his drink. “Something like that.”

The guy smiled again. Castiel decided that he liked it when the guy smiled as it made his eyes light up and well, now he was staring. He needed to stop.

“You want another drink?” Castiel asked. “I’ll pay.”

“Well then, mine’s a Jack on the rocks. And you can tell you a little more about yourself, um –”

“Cas.”

“Cas,” the guy repeated, the name falling naturally off his tongue. “Right, well, Cas, I’m Dean. It’s good to meet you.” He smiled again and Castiel smiled back, inwardly thinking that he was so, so, so done for.

In hindsight, Castiel should have given Dean a fake name. His face was over the papers on an almost daily basis and the entire country, if not most of the world, if they had a TV or an internet connection, knew his name. So either Dean hadn’t realized who he was currently making out with in the half dark of the club, or he had realized and Castiel was going to wake up in the morning in the middle of a big sex scandal.

“Yours or mine?” Dean asked when he pulled away for a brief moment.

“It’ll have to be yours,” Castiel replied. “My, er, roommates aren’t too keen on having late night visitors.”

“Fair enough,” Dean said. “I have to warn you though, it’s not much of a palace.”

Castiel laughed at Dean’s choice of words and let Dean take his hand and lead him to his home.

It was the sun streaming through the windows that woke Dean. He opened his eyes and was met with the familiar sight of his own bedroom, which meant that he had made it home after all. There’d been a guy, hadn’t there? Some guy with dark hair and piercing blue eyes that had scarily looked like the Prince that always had his face plastered over the tabloids for no other reason than the fact that the paparazzi had seen him walking out his front door.

Dean sat up and looked at the other side of the bed, where the guy from last night was sleeping. Dean dimly remembered something about the guy saying he needed to get home but that thought going by the wayside as he’d fallen asleep before Dean had had the chance to call a cab. As Dean rubbed sleep from his eyes and started to get out of bed, deciding he’d just leave the guy to sleep, he realized why the guy had looked so much like the Prince.

He was the Prince.

“Shit,” Dean muttered to himself. Now, in daylight, he was so easy to recognize. The face was one that the entire nation knew, and Dean wondered how no one else had recognized him in the club last night. That brought on the next question: what the hell had Prince Castiel been doing in a gay club two weeks before his wedding?

Dean needed to ring his brother. Sam would know what to do.

Dean swiped his cell off the nightstand and went through to the bathroom so he could make the call in relative privacy and also not risk waking the sleeping beauty in his bedroom.

“Come on, Sammy, pick up,” Dean mumbled, pacing up and down the narrow gap between the bath and the sink. “Come on, Sam…”

“Dean? Why are you ringing so early?” Sam sounded groggy on the other end of the line, as Dean had woken him up by his impromptu phone call. “Not that I’m unhappy to hear from you or anything, I just didn’t realize you knew there were two 7 o’clocks in the day.”

“Funny, Sammy.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’ve got a problem. Like a massive, what-the-shitting-hell-am-I-supposed-to-do-now type problem.”

“Okay, shoot. What’s up?”

Dean sat down on the edge of bathtub, wrapping his free hand tightly around the plastic rim. “I just woke up to find Prince Castiel in my bed. Sammy, what the hell do I do?”

“Wait, what? Prince Castiel? As in _the_ Prince Castiel?”

“Yes, Sam!”

“And you’re sure it’s him?”

Dean sighed. “Yes I’m sure! Either that or it’s his fucking doppelgänger.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment, indicating that Sam was deep in thought. “Okay, so you have Prince Castiel in your bed – wait a minute. How did he even get there?”

“Use your imagination, Sammy!”

“- I’d rather not, Dean, if you don’t mind –”

“Fine, he ended up at Heaven last night, don’t know how or why, we got talking and he ended up coming back to mine. That’s the shortened version anyway. And now he’s in my bed and oh my fucking God, what the hell do I do? How do I address him? Do I go and wake him up to a chorus of the national anthem and serve him breakfast on a silver platter? I don’t even have a silver platter! What if he’s allergic to something? Oh God, I’m going to end up in jail for trying to poison the first in line to the throne!”

“Dean, calm down!” Sam shouted at his brother, who had long ago stood up and had taken to pacing up and down the narrow bathroom again. “You can manage this –”

“How? How the fuck am I supposed to manage this?”

“Just don’t panic. Treat this like it’s just another one of your hook-ups. Don’t think about the whole royalty thing right now. You can manage this, Dean, I know you can.”

“Okay.” Dean took a deep breath and stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. “I can do this,” he said to his reflection more than anyone else. “I can do this. Talk to you later, Sammy.”

“Bye, Dean.”

When Castiel woke up, it was in unfamiliar surroundings. He immediately jumped to the worst conclusions that he’d been kidnapped or that his cousin Gabriel was playing another cruel trick on him because really, this bed was the most uncomfortable thing he’d ever slept on, but then he remembered.

He remembered sneaking out of the palace grounds, he remembered getting into that club, he remembered meeting that guy, Dan or whatever his name had been, and he remembered the sex.

“Shit,” he mumbled, sitting up and looking blearily around the cramped bedroom for his clothes. He spotted his boxers lying haphazardly across the top of a shelving unit that had definitely come from IKEA, and as he crossed the room and pulled them on, the door to the bedroom opened and the guy from last night walked in, holding a tray full of breakfast looking things.

“And His Royal Highness is awake,” Dan – no, Dean – said, placing the tray on top of the scratchy bed sheets. “Yes, I figured out who you are. And I hope you like bread and peanut butter because that’s all I’ve got in at the moment unless you fancy having takeout pizza from two nights ago for breakfast. Coffee?”

“You figured out who I am?” Castiel repeatedly dumbly, arms folded across his chest and head cocked to one side with his eyes narrowed. “How?”

“Hate to break it to you, princess, but everyone in the country knows who you are. Not to mention the fact that you’re always in the papers because someone’s announced the latest color scheme for your wedding flowers and everyone’s freaking out about how that purple won’t go with that green and how you’d better not have carnations because that would upset your mother.”

Castiel stared intently at the man sitting on the bed in front of him for a long moment before sitting down opposite him. The plates on the tray were chipped, none of the cutlery matched and the mugs brimming with steaming coffee bared the slogans “world’s best DJ” and “world’s best brother”. Although nothing on the tray would ever be seen in anything other than the trash in the palace kitchens, to Castiel, it didn’t matter, as it showed a certain homeliness and an insight into how real people lived.

“You know, that’s actually not true,” Castiel said, taking a bite of his bread smothered in peanut butter. “About my mother not liking carnations, I mean. She has nothing against carnations, but she just prefers roses and lilies.”

“Really?” Dean asked, taking a sip from his coffee. “How did the whole ‘the Queen hates carnations’ thing come about, then?”

Castiel picked up the jug of milk and splashed some into his coffee before answering. “I think it was because at their wedding there were no carnations to be seen. Who knows, though? The papers could claim I’m an angel and half the country would believe it.”

“So what were you doing at Heaven last night then?” Dean inquired after a long moment of silence, pulling at the crust on his bread and idly wishing that the prince would put a shirt on because his abs were getting somewhat distracting. “I mean, it’s a gay club. You went to a gay club and went home with a guy, and forgive me if I’m wrong, but that doesn’t strike me as a particularly straight thing to do.”

Castiel stared down into his plate, picking at his fingernails. “It was a one-time thing,” he mumbled eventually, getting off the bed and reaching for his shirt, which lay crumpled on the floor next to Dean’s nightstand.

“Again, please forgive me if I’m wrong, but you knew exactly what you were doing last night. Like, you’d-done-it-before type of knowing what you were doing.”

Castiel gave Dean a long stare as he pulled on his pants and checked that he had all of his belongings. “I should go,” Castiel said, walking towards the bedroom door. “Thank you for your hospitality, Dean.”

“Hey, you can’t just leave!” Dean jumped off the bed, causing the coffee to spill onto the tray. “Oh, god damn it,” he muttered, taking a paper napkin from the nightstand and mopping the mess up. “Well, technically you can, but we’re kind of the middle of a conversation here, so it’d just be rude.”

But Castiel was already at the door of the apartment, pulling his shoes on. “Goodbye, Dean,” he called.

And he left.

Standing in the doorway of his bedroom, looking at the front door in disbelief, Dean wondered if all of the royal family were like this, or if they took classes in how to be dicks.

Sneaking into the palace was a lot less easy than sneaking out. Castiel managed it by cutting through the garage, the kitchens and the laundry room before taking the back staircase up to the second floor where his rooms were. The staff he’d seen or bumped into didn’t question anything, simply raised an eyebrow and carried on with their work, but Castiel knew he would be the center of the kitchen gossip for many weeks to come.

Castiel’s cousin Gabriel burst into his room two minutes after he’d returned, bouncing around and rambling on about something involving Castiel’s father, his younger brother Alfie and how the press really needed to keep their noses out of business that wasn’t theirs.

“Can you slow down?” Castiel asked as Gabriel continued waffling incoherent things whilst at the same time consuming a family sized bar of chocolate. “I didn’t get a word of that.”

“Okay,” Gabriel said, launching himself onto Castiel’s bed and making himself comfortable amongst the cushions, “your father wants to see you. It’s important, apparently. He wanted to send your valet to get you but I said I’d go because I saw you sneaking out last night and I didn’t want them to start panicking if you hadn’t got back yet. So before you swan off to go and talk to your father about all things royal and political for the rest of the day, how about you explain to me why you were spotted leaving an apartment complex downtown at 9.00 this morning?”

Gabriel had shoved his phone into Castiel’s eye line, the screen showing the home page of the Court Park Times on Sunday, stating headline of “PRINCE SPOTTED LEAVING MYSTERY APARTMENT” in bold, white letters which were overlain across a photo of him leaving Dean’s apartment complex that morning. How the press had managed to track him down, he didn’t know, and Castiel began to regret thinking it was a good idea to go to Heaven last night.

## Prince spotted leaving mystery apartment

**Sat, May 30th 2015 11:32 a.m.**

**Prince Castiel was spotted leaving a mystery apartment in Dupont Circle, officials say.**

**_By Meg Masters_ **

At 9:03 a.m. this morning, Prince Castiel was spotted leaving an apartment complex in Dupont Circle, an area of Washington DC well-known for its association with the LGBT community. No word yet on the Palace’s response to this discovery.

The prince was seen leaving the apartments looking as if he had dressed in a rush, with his tie done up backwards and left the scene rather quickly, as though he didn’t want to be seen there. Quite clearly this was the case: with no body guard in sight, it seems as if the Prince perhaps hadn’t informed the Palace of his impromptu visit.

It is unclear what he was doing at the apartment block at such an early time, but as no one has claimed to see him arriving the same morning, we presume that he spent the night there.  However that in itself presents more questions: what on earth was the prince doing staying the night at such a place, especially with his wedding to Lady Hannah Milton just weeks away?

Join in the discussion on Twitter with #princemystery and we’ll be retweeting the best onto our account @courtparktimes—make sure to follow us to keep up to date with everything that’s going on in the world.

“Does my father know about this?” Castiel asked, handing Gabriel’s phone back.

“I don’t know. He didn’t mention it. Although the longer this conversation goes on, the more likely he is to find it, so I’d get down to his office pronto.”

 

King “call me Chuck” Charles’ office was situated on the first floor, tucked behind the throne room and the grand dining hall. It was cramped, with bookshelves covering the walls and papers strewn all over the desk and it said ‘storage closet’ on the original plans of the palace. Chuck had claimed it as his office as soon as he’d discovered his passion for writing at a young age.

Castiel didn’t particularly like the office. It was primarily lit by a bright fluorescent strip light with the only natural light in the room came from a tiny window no bigger than the size of shoebox situated high in the wall. It always smelled faintly of alcohol and always reminded Castiel of that one time he’d had to go and represent the royal family at the opening of a new prison on the outskirts of the city.

“Castiel.” Chuck looked genuinely surprised to see his oldest son standing on the other side of his office door when he opened it at the knock. “Come in.”

Castiel stepped into the office. It seemed even more untidy than the last time he’d been in there, which had only been a week ago. The old computer that Chuck refused to throw away sat on the corner of the desk, humming and whirring loudly every time it had to do something more complex than responding to someone pressing the space bar.

A pile of books was removed from one of the only two of the chairs in the room so that Castiel could sit down. Chuck was sifting through papers in an ominous looking black folder, searching through them in a speed that could only be described as ‘so slow you would’ve thought he was being controlled by a sloth’.

“Lady Hannah arrives in just over a weeks’ time.” Chuck finally broke the silence that had only been interrupted by the computer in the last five minutes. “Her family is due to arrive the day after she does. They’ll all be staying at Elverston House rather than here, though. Your mother would have a fit if you stayed in the same room as each other for more than five minutes before the wedding.”

It was painfully true. Queen Naomi was someone who thought deeply of the traditional values that had run through society for many generations, and it was this that had resulted in the only conversations Castiel had with his bride-to-be were over family dinners or at formal dances. He hardly knew her on a personal level, but in Naomi’s eyes, that didn’t matter. Castiel’s and Hannah’s marriage wasn’t going to one formed out of love, it was a reunion between two prestigious families, a political playing piece in an even bigger game of chess.

Castiel thought back to Dean. It seemed strange to think that just an hour ago he’d woken up in the bed with another man. They hadn’t exactly parted on the best of terms though, Castiel mused. He’d been deliberately rude because what Dean had said had touched a very raw nerve. God, his mother would have had a fit if she’d seen how he’d acted. Well, she’d probably have a fit if she knew what had happened anyway, but that was beside the point.

“Castiel, what’s troubling you?”

A line of wrinkles spread across Chuck’s forhead. It wasn’t often that he worried about his oldest son, but today, something was undecidedly off about him. Castiel kept fidgeting, eyes darting from his constantly twitching hands in his lap to the clock on the wall, as though he was wondering how long this conversation was going to last, or to no-so-subtly hint that he had somewhere else to be and better things to do.

“Nothing, father,” came the reply. “What did you want to talk to me about apart from reminding me about Lady Hannah’s arrival?”

Chuck decided to let Castiel’s odd behavior slide for the moment. He leant back in his chair, lifting a few piles of paper up and then putting them back down again after discovering they weren’t what he was looking for. “I can’t think of anything else at the moment. If I do, I’ll let you know. And Castiel?”

“Yes?”

“If there’s anything bothering you, anything at all, please don’t hesitate to talk to me. You can go now if you wish.”

Castiel nodded and got up, walking towards the door of the office. For a brief moment, he considered telling his father the truth, that he was gay and that the last thing he wanted to do was marry Hannah, and that in an ideal world, when Castiel eventually took the throne, he would be making history as he ruled the country with another king by his side instead of a queen. But then he realized what a stupid idea that would be, and he walked out of the office.

**Court Park Times** @courtparktimes

Prince spotted leaving mystery apartment: bit.ly/1RMTV1p

 **Prince Castiel Fans** @princecastielfans

An early morning walk, perhaps?? bit.ly/1RMTV1p #princemystery @courtparktimes

 **awaiting the crown** @castiel-is-bae

wtf is he playing at????? bit.ly/1RMTV1p #princemystery

 **Princess Brooke** @futureprincess

I can’t even right now bit.ly/1RMTV1p #princemystery

 **LGBT News DC** @lgbtnewsdc

DID ANYONE SEE HIM AROUND LAST NIGHT/THIS MORNING?? bit.ly/1RMTV1p #princemystery

 **first in line** @MidnightPrincess

@lgbtnewsdc think everyone would have freaked out if we did though? #princemystery

 **LGBT News DC** @lgbtnewsdc

suppose so @MidnightPrincess #princemystery

 **LGBT News DC** @lgbtnewsdc

who was he with though that’s the real question #princemystery

\------------------------

Worldwide Trends · Change

**#princemystery**

22.3K Tweets

**#mayflowers**

18.6K Tweets

**#TheWalkingDead**

@AMCTheWalkingDead is tweeting about this

**#PrayforParis**

\------------------------

 **Court Park Times** @courtparktimes

#princemystery is trending. Any other theories about his whereabouts last night?

 **amie** @castiel1990

@courtparktimes I predict the Palace will deny this ever happened #princemystery

 **Dan or something** @castielsfans

@courtparktimes hopefully with the seriousness it deserves but I doubt it #princemystery

 **amie** @castiel1990

@courtparktimes “If we ignore it, it might go away” #princemystery #idiots

 **Stars and Stripes** @c_novak_90

@courtparktimes @lgbtnewsdc is… is anyone going to say it?? #princemystery

 **Edie** @novak90

@castielsfans @courtparktimes @lgbtnews don’t be ridiculous #princemystery

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

literally who cares if he’s gay anyway @castielsfans #princemystery

 **Dan or something** @castielsfans

@cxstxxl I think a lot of people would #princemystery

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

@castielsfans yeah but a lot of people wouldn’t care too #princemystery

 **Dan or something** @castielsfans

@cxstxxl I know that I wouldn’t care I was just making an observation

 **awaiting the crown** @castiel-is-bae

@castielsfans @cxstxxl he’s getting married in two weeks he’s not gay #princemystery

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

@castielsfans @castiel-is-bae could be a cover up though? Might be scared to come out? #princemystery #conspiracy @courtparktimes

 **Court Park Times** @courtparktimes

RT @cxstxxl: @castielsfans @castiel-is-bae could be a cover up though? Might be scared to come out? #princemystery #conspiracy @courtparktimes


	2. Part II

Dean didn’t hear from Castiel again. In all honesty, he wasn’t surprised, but he would be lying if he said he hadn’t had some half-baked notion in the back of his mind that a horse and carriage was going to pull up outside the apartment block, requesting Mr. Dean Winchester’s presence at the palace. Of course, that didn’t happen, so Dean went back to his ordinary, common life working as a daytime DJ for a local rock radio station, eating too much takeout food and drinking too much for a weekday night.

Sam called, but skirted around the whole ‘Dean-slept-with-the-prince’ thing, instead asking the mundane questions like ‘how was work’, ‘have you seen that report on the news’ and ‘did I tell you about this thing that Jessica did last week?’ It exhausted Dean how Sam was refusing to acknowledge the situation, and on Thursday night, Dean snapped.

“Why aren’t you talking about it?” Dean demanded. He was pacing in the living room this time, his phone in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other. “Just because we’ve both slept since then doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!”

“What are you talking about, Dean?”

“The fact that I slept with His Royal Highness Prince Castiel, that’s what! Or had you forgotten about that little thing that happened in my life?”

Sam sighed on the other end of the line. “Look, Dean, I just assumed that you didn’t want to talk about it. The media is going to have a field day as it is if the prince continues sneaking off to gay clubs in the middle of the night, so I thought you wouldn’t want to be associated with all that. Why are you so worked up about the whole situation anyway?”

“I don’t know, Sammy! Maybe it’s because I had sex with the first in line to the throne!”

Dean’s whiskey glass was empty, though he didn’t remember finishing it. As he walked through to the kitchen to locate the bottle, Sam was babbling in his ear about things like ‘don’t make this a bigger deal than it has to be’, ‘it was just a one night stand, keep it that way,’ and ‘for god’s sakes, Dean, never sleep with a member of the royal family again’ – like he’d do that anyway. Sam hung up the phone, and Dean spent the rest of the evening thinking too deeply about things that didn’t really matter in a whiskey-induced haze.

When Dean got to work on Friday, the first thing he did was go to the staffroom. The studios and offices for Purgatory Radio were situated on the second floor of an office block on the outskirts of the city, with not-so pleasant views of the constant stream of traffic heading towards the interstate and the apartment complexes on the other side of the road, for which the dumpsters always seemed to be overflowing. But Dean loved his job, even if he had been relegated to the afternoon slot from the evening slot after a ‘re-organization’ last year. He got to play his favorite songs and waffle about irrelevant crap from 2 till 5 every day. What’s not to like?

“You’re here! Finally, I thought you weren’t going to turn up and that Benny would have to cover for you again.”

The red headed wonder that was Charlie Bradbury had appeared at his side, making a beeline for the coffee machine. She did the tech for Dean’s radio show, and read the travel bulletins when Garth didn’t turn up for work. Today, her choice of t-shirt was the Hogwarts school crest, white printed on black material, which somehow managed to look both professional and nerdy at the same time.

“We’re still going on about that, huh?” Dean asked as he sat down on one of the couches, scrolling through the songs on the radio database. “It was five months ago.”

“Uh-huh, we are. What you doing?” Charlie looked around at Dean’s laptop screen. “Still haven’t decided on the ‘classic song of the day’, huh?”

“How did you know?” Dean muttered as he went through the somewhat limited collection of Led Zeppelin’s music that the radio had. “Something to do with my panicked expression and the frantic scrolling, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah, you got it. And stop looking at Zep, you did them three days ago.”

Dean sighed and went back to the main music library. “ACDC?”

“Nah, too obvious. You overplay them anyway. What about Kiss?”

“Kiss?”

“Yeah. They are headlining Download festival next Sunday in the UK anyway. Would be kind of fitting, don’t you think?”

“Heaven’s On Fire?”

“A perfect choice.” Charlie smiled, drinking the last of her coffee. “Now get your ass down to the studio, we’re on in ten and I still need to check that Garth hasn’t been messing around with the mixing desk again.”

The radio show went as well as could be expected, the three hour shift consisting of playing the songs Dean had grown up with and news bulletins no one listened to anyway. He couldn’t thank his father for much, but his taste in music was something he was grateful for. He always inwardly shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if he’d been brought up listening to rap or something equally ridiculous – but that was something he was thankful he didn’t have to deal with. And even if he had, he was sure he still would have found his love for classic rock somewhere around the line.

“What you doing tonight, Dean?” Charlie asked as they walked over to the lockers, where Charlie had left her jacket. “Anything?”

“Nothing really. Why?”

“You want to go to Heaven? Grab a pizza or something somewhere first and then go?”

Dean considered it for a moment, but either way, he was still going to get drunk tonight, so why not do it in a club with a friend surrounded by a load of hot guys and girls? “Sure, Charlie. It’s your turn to pay, right?”

Charlie gave him a withering look as they left the staffroom. “You wish, Winchester. You wish.”

The club was throbbing with a heavy techno track when Dean and Charlie arrived, the music pounding through speakers placed all around the large room. They went to the bar, where Charlie ordered him a Cosmopolitan (“Seriously, Charlie? Who even drinks these nowadays?”) and Dean, in retaliation, ordered her Jäger bombs and let himself laugh at the way she shuddered at the taste of Red Bull mixed with Jägermeister. It probably brought back memories of her twenty first birthday when she’d tried to drink Benny under the table and had ended up throwing up all over her girlfriend’s shoes, yelling something about how Dorothy would never be able to go home now.

Neither of them were looking for hook-ups tonight, so they found a booth in a slightly quieter corner of the club and played games of ‘spot the hot guy/girl’ and talked about how their weeks had been outside of work.

“Oh my god, I just remembered!” Charlie exclaimed when she sat down again after getting back from the bar. “You took a guy home last Friday, didn’t you? How was it?”

“I don’t get why you’re interested considering that you don’t even like dick,” Dean said, chuckling as he picked at the label on the beer bottle. “But no, it was good. Almost too good to be true.”

“Oh yeah? What happened?”

Dean hadn’t planned on telling her, really, he hadn’t. He’d figured, as well as listening to Sam’s advice; that the fewer people that knew about the whole debacle, the better, but he knew he could trust Charlie, so the words made their way out of his mouth anyway.

“You’re never going to believe this,” he said. “But it was Prince Castiel. And I didn’t even realize until the next morning when I woke up, looked around and saw him sleeping on the other side of my bed.”

Charlie’s mouth was hanging open and her eyes wide in shock as she took in the information. “You’re kidding, right?” she said weakly. “You must be.”

Dean gave her a serious look.

“Oh god, you’re not joking. Oh, Christ. Dean, how on Earth didn’t you realize who it was?”

“I don’t know, Charlie, I was drunk and I wasn’t thinking straight. I think I’d made the connection that he at least looked like the prince but I didn’t realize until it was too late that it actually was him.”

Charlie just gaped at him. “I can’t… I mean, what was he even doing here? Wait, oh my god, is he gay? Is his marriage with Hannah just one big lie and cover up?”

“I don’t know, Charlie. All I know is he got very touchy when I brought the subject up in the morning and he left before I could get any answers from him. He –”

Dean stopped midsentence as he saw someone making their way around the edge of the dancefloor. And by someone, he meant Castiel.

“Oh my God, Charlie, I think he’s here,” Dean breathed, turning round in his seat as he desperately tried not to let him out of his sight.

“Who, Castiel?” Charlie asked, but her voice was already a distant memory as Dean was already getting up and walking towards the prince. He pushed through crowds of friends and even broke up the odd couple from intense make out sessions as he followed Castiel over to the bar. When he got there, Castiel was already ordering a drink, but even in his drunken state, Dean knew it was a bad idea for him to be hanging around in here, especially at the bar.

“Well good evening, your royal highness,” Dean said as he slid into the seat beside Castiel. “You making a habit of coming here or something?”

Castiel looked around in alarm, a panicked look on his face that relaxed visibly when he saw it was Dean. “I was passing,” he finally replied, taking a sip of the gin and tonic that had just been pushed across the bar towards him. “Thought I’d pop in.”

“Right,” Dean said slowly with raised eyebrows, not buying a word the prince said. It seemed highly unlikely that Castiel had just been passing when the club was pretty much on the other side of the city to the palace, and yet here he was, ‘popping in’. Dean looked around the bar, trying to see if anyone else had worked out who he was sitting with, but they were all too busy with their own conversations or making out in corners. Even though it appeared that the Prince had got away with it last week, it didn’t seem possible that he’d be lucky for two weeks running. “Look, Cas, you want to get out of here?”

“Why? Who says I want to have sex with you again?”

“I’m just conscious that you might get recognized is all.”

Castiel sipped at his drink and followed Dean’s gaze around the bar. He looked at the bright lights of the stage, the chalkboard behind the bar declaring the “Cocktail of the Day” and offers on 2 for 1 shots, and to the steady flow of people coming into the club. “Yeah,” Castiel said. “You’re probably right. The bouncer did give me a weird look when he let me in.”

“Well, I presume he checked your ID, right? And unless the royal family has a stack of secret identities and fake IDs sitting around somewhere, I’m guessing it still says Castiel Novak?”

“Oh,” Castiel said, pushing his empty glass back across the bar. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Of course you hadn’t. Jesus, why do they let you out of the palace?”

“They didn’t,” Castiel said as Dean led them across the club towards the back door. “I snuck out. Easy enough if you know which guards you can trust to keep their mouths shut if you give them enough money.”

Dean shook his head in disbelief as he pushed the back door of the club open. “You pay the guards to keep their mouths shut? Doesn’t that go against everything they’re supposed to do, like _keeping you safe_?”

Castiel shrugged. “I suppose so. You can blame Gabriel, though, he’s the one who spent the two years after he left high school bribing the palace guards with thousands of dollars to keep quiet when he walked out of the back gate late at night and didn’t get back until the following morning. He has a chart with all the guards’ schedules on and it’s color coded with which ones can be trusted most and how much you have to pay them. It’s genius, really.”

“Thousands of dollars?” Dean repeated weakly. He’d never had that amount of money in his life: he’d spent the first two years of his time in D.C. in a complete shit hole of an apartment with a hot water boiler that worked only when it felt like it, living almost exclusively off ramen and the cheapest knock off cereal on the grocery store shelves. Yet here Castiel was, saying thousands of dollars almost if Gabriel had just had it lying around somewhere like the quarter Dean had found between the couch cushions last month.

“But that’s nothing,” Castiel said. “When Gabriel went to Vegas in 2008, he blew over two hundred thousand dollars in a single weekend and it didn’t really put much of a dent in the family bank account.”

Dean stared, shaking his head again. “Fucking hell, it’s like you’re from another planet,” he said, throwing an arm around Castiel’s shoulder. “Enough about the divide between you and the rest of us. Let’s get back to mine before one of those guards you’ve given an impromptu bonus to decides he can’t lie anymore and reports you missing.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Castiel smiled.

Neither of them noticed the click of a camera shutter from the corner of the street.

Three hours into Dean’s extensive music collection, Castiel was just about passed out on the couch. They’d talked almost nonstop over the mix of everything from Black Sabbath to Beethoven, Dean learning that there was a lot more to the royal family than met the eye – “we’re supposed to be politically neutral, but it’s all politics, I swear” – and Castiel getting an insight into Dean’s life as he grew up, having to deal with his mom’s death, an alcoholic father, having to look out for his little brother Sammy and saving up the cash he earnt working weekends at Bobby’s to put in Sam’s college fund and occasionally buying records from charity shops and garage sales. He said he’d got lucky getting the job at Purgatory Radio, with his only relevant experience being an internship he’d done at the end of high school.

“You look like you’re about to go to sleep,” Dean murmured, stroking a hand down Castiel’s face and vaguely wondering if he was crossing a boundary or two. He then remembered that they’d already slept together and it was gone one a.m. anyway, so he doubted that Cas would be offended. “You want to take the bed? I can sleep on the couch.”

“No offence but your bed is the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever slept on,” Castiel replied, rubbing his eyes and smiling slightly. “I’ll take the couch.”

“I’ll just get you a blanket, then,” Dean said, getting up and walking into his bedroom to dig a blanket out of his closet. “I’ve been meaning to get the mattress replaced for ages but I can’t really afford it right now.” Dean pulled two of the fluffiest blankets he could find, picked up a pillow from his bed and went back into the living room, where Castiel was spreading himself out on the couch and gave him the blankets and pillow. “There’s a spare toothbrush in the cabinet above the sink and you’re welcome to use the shower if you need to. Will that be all, your highness?”

Castiel let out a chuckle as he laid down. “Yes, Dean. Thank you.”

“Alright then. See you in the morning, Cas. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Dean was halfway across the room before he came back and dropped a kiss onto Castiel’s head. “Sleep tight,” he whispered, not wanting to disturb him. “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

Dean woke up the next morning to find Castiel already gone a note sitting on his night stand with Castiel’s number on it, saying that there would be a delivery for him later that day.

## CAUGHT IN THE ACT!

**Last night Prince Castiel was spotted leaving a gay club with a mystery man.**

**_By Lillith Green_ **

It would appear that, as of late, the Prince has developed a habit of going places to visit people that probably aren’t on the Palace’s approved list. Last night (Fri June 5th) was no exception. At approximately 11:30 p.m., the Prince was seen leaving the club ‘Heaven’ with another man who hasn’t yet been identified. ‘Heaven’ is a gay club situated not too far away from the apartment complex the Prince was seen leaving last week in Dupont Circle, and is a popular nightclub for many members of the LGBT community. It is unclear where the two men went after leaving the club, but one can only assume it wasn’t to discuss the plans of the Prince’s forthcoming wedding to Lady Hannah Milton.

But this shocking discovery begs an important question: what on earth was the prince doing at a gay club? Apart from the obvious, of course. Does that mean the prince is gay? Is the wedding all just one big cover up and is this one card in many decks of secrets that the Palace don’t want us to know about?

Another question to be asked is the one where we wonder if the two events of the Prince being spotted leaving the apartment block last Saturday morning and last night’s finding are connected. Was the Prince visiting the same man as he was seen leaving with from Heaven last night, or was it someone else?

Which leads us onto last question: who’s the guy, anyway?

Join in the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #princemystery and we’ll be retweeting the best to @courtparktimes

**Court Park Times** @courtparktimes

the drama continues with the prince out of the Palace for another night: bit.ly/1RNJR8l #princemystery

 **Prince Castiel Fans** @princecastielfans

uh oh bit.ly/1RNJR8l #princemystery

 **LGBT News DC** @lgbtnewsdc

okay who was at Heaven last night WHO SAW HIM #princemystery

 **Dan or something** @castielsfans

can we say it yet or #princemystery

 **johnnie boy** @cstlnvk

*waits to see what Palace will say about this one* #princemystery

 **LGBT News DC** @lgbtnewsdc

“@castielfans: can we say it yet or #princemystery” think we can #notsostraight

 **Edie** @novak90

who else can see the wedding not going ahead?? #princemystery #notsostraight

 **awaiting the crown** @castiel-is-bae

perhaps he was just visiting a friend @courtparktimes #princemystery

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

“@castiel-is-bae: per perhaps he was just visiting a friend @courtparktimes #princemystery” yeah right #notsostraight

\-------------------------

Worldwide Trends · Change

**#princemystery**

38.9K Tweets

**#notsostraight**

12.6K Tweets

**#whyimsingle**

@MensHumor is talking about this!

**#YourMom**

9.9K Tweets

\------------------------

 **Stars and Stripes** @c_novak_90

#notsostraight more like #verygay

 **first in line** @MidnightPrincess

maybe he’s #notsostraight but he’s still marrying Hannah so…. #princemystery

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

so is anyone else suspecting shit is going to hit the fan soon #princemystery #notsostraight

 **Ryan** @lovescastiel

@cxstxxl: YES

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

@lovescastiel I’m preparing popcorn now

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE PLAYING AT? GOING TO A _GAY CLUB_? ARE YOU COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR MIND?”

Naomi was screaming at her eldest son, her blouse crumpled and her hair scraped back into a bun so that it would stay out of the way. Her makeup was beginning to sweat off her face, eyeshadow fading and mascara smudging around her eyes.

Castiel had never seen her quite so angry before.

It was 10 a.m., and Castiel had arrived home half an hour ago, planning to go straight to his room and hopefully avoid all conflicts. That, though, didn’t happen, as he’d walked straight into his mother as he was leaving the kitchens, who’d been holding a copy of the Court Park Times with a look in her eyes that could kill.

“I, um… I –”

Naomi, though, wasn’t in a mood where other people also participated in the conversation. “I just don’t understand it! Lady Hannah and her family arrive in a week’s time and you go and pull a stunt like this? Oh no, sure, that’s fine, why don’t you go to a gay club and suck dick in the toilets like a common whore? I’m sure the public will love that!”

Naomi sat down on her desk chair, wiping her fingers across her face, ignoring the shimmer that came off on her fingers as she swiped across where her highlighter had been. “You’re an absolute disgrace to this family, do you know that? I’ve half a mind to call the wedding off but that’s exactly what you want, isn’t it? So you can run off into the sunset and have your gay romance? I think not. You’re not fit to get married, never mind run the country! Even Gabriel would be better than you!”

“Pardon me, your majesty, but might I suggest you move this conversation to somewhere a little more private?” Mrs. Tran, head housekeeper, said as she emerged from her study. “I’m afraid there are some kitchen maids with an ear for the gossip and I doubt you want this to be the topic of conversation throughout the staff for weeks to come.”

“Yes, of course.” Naomi forced a smile. “Thank you. Castiel! My office, now.”

The palace PR manager Jody Mills was already in Naomi’s office when she got there with Castiel, as was Chuck, who was flicking through a copy of the day’s Court Park Times with raised eyebrows and a thoroughly disinterested look on his face.

“This is journalism?” he asked as Noami sat down in her chair. “I wouldn’t use this rag to line a hamster cage.”

“Terrible as it might be, it’s one of the most popular daily tabloids in the country,” Jody said. “Despite its fairly liberal political stance, it’s basically the United States’ version of The Sun or The Daily Mail. People read it and people believe it. We’ve got a battle on our hands here.”

“So what do you suggest?” Naomi asked. “We just ignore it until all blows over? Castiel is getting married in a weeks’ time, he has to be the prince the country expects him to be!”

“Whilst I understand your concerns, your majesty, this is a lot bigger than Prince Castiel’s image – the image of the entire royal family is at stake here. I’ve already had various news outlets on the phone from all over the world this morning asking if it’s true that Castiel was at Heaven last night. It’s all over Twitter and it made the headlines on the BBC news in the UK this morning – do I need to go on? I’m not suggesting that we ignore it, we definitely need to do something – at this point, I feel ignoring it would be worse than acknowledging it – but the difficult question is what we do.”

“Can’t you just release a royal statement and have done with it?” Chuck asked, now immersed in the sport pages of the Court Park Times. “This seems like a lot of fuss over nothing if you ask me.”

“A lot of fuss over – seriously, Charles? This is important!” Naomi pulled the newspaper out of her husband’s hands and slammed it onto her desk. “For once in your life, can you act like the king you’re supposed to be?”

“Well, I would, if we actually had a country to rule over –”

“Stop it, Charles, this isn’t the eighteenth century anymore –”

“Exactly, I think it’s about time you realized that –”

“Your majesties!” Jody yelled over the argument, pulling her fingers through her hair. “Can we get back to the matter at hand, please?”

“Yes, of course,” Naomi said, shooting a glare at her husband. “What do you suggest?”

“A royal statement that yes, Castiel was there, but he was visiting a friend. The palace knew where he was, who he was with, and this is not a cause for concern.”

“And that will work?”

“It’s not ideal, but it’s better than the alternative where we deny he was there and brush it all under the carpet. Since there is photographic evidence of Castiel leaving the club last night, it would be unadvisable to go down that road.” Jody pulled two statements out of a folder that had been resting on a bookshelf and placed them onto Naomi’s desk. “Those are the two options. The wording can be altered, but I need a decision by two so that I can let the press know. I’ll leave you to it, let me know when you’re done.”

Jody picked up the folder and left the room, giving Castiel a sympathetic smile as she left. “I’ll talk to you later, your highness,” she said. “Shall we say three p.m.?”

“Yes, that’s fine,” Castiel replied, following her out of the room. He didn’t want to spend another moment in the room where his parents were deciding whether or not it was a good idea to tell the press the truth or not.

Dean was flipping through the classic rock section at his favorite record store when his phone rang. Seeing it was Sam, he accepted the call and carried on flipping through the records as he greeted his brother.

“Hey, Sam.”

“I thought you weren’t going to sleep with the first in line to the throne again,” Sam said on the other end of the line, his voice sounding rather tight. “What the hell are you doing?”

Dean stopped flipping through the records. “What?”

“You heard.”

“But I – how do you –”

“Read the goddamn papers, Dean!”

“Oh, shit.” Dean rubbed a hand across his face, turning around and walking out of the shop, heading towards the newspaper stand at the end of the street. “Which paper?”

“Court Park Times. You’re front page news. And Jess noticed it was you before I did – Dean, you’ve got to be more careful. You want to carry on screwing Prince Castiel behind the country’s back, fine, but at least be discreet about it. This is making headlines worldwide, don’t go making it any worse than it already is.”

“Yeah, Sammy, I know.” Dean was stood in front of the newspaper stand, holding a copy of the paper, staring at the CAUGHT IN THE ACT! headline printed across the front page over a picture of him and Castiel leaving the club last night.

“You buying that or what, dude?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Dean handed over the fifty cents and carried on walking, trying to read the article at the same time. “The picture’s kinda dark, you can’t really tell it’s me.”

“That’s not the point and you know it.”

“Whatever, I’ve gotta go. Talk to you later?”

“Just as long as it’s not to discuss how you’ve ended up on the headlines again.”

Dean let out a chuckle. “Alright, Sammy. Bye.”

“It’s Sam. Bye, Dean.”

Dean ended the call and shoved his cell phone back into his pocket. He read the article on the front page of the paper a couple of times before he threw it into the trash can on the way into his apartment complex. He didn’t need the media making assumptions about his life any more than Castiel did.

**Messages with: Castiel**

**14:23** You didn’t have to buy me a new mattress I’m not a charity case

**14:23 I know. It’s a thank you**

**14:24** A thank you for what?

**14:25 For your hospitality. For watching out for me when you could have easily gone to the press and had your five minutes of fame. For everything.**

**14:26 Also so I don’t have to sleep on the couch next time**

**14:26** There’s going to be a next time?

**14:27 Of course.**

**14:28** Well then I’m definitely not going to complain about it then ;)

**14:28 Good**

 

“Have a seat, Castiel.”

Castiel sat down in the chair Jody was gesturing to and looked up. Jody was on the other side of the desk, running her fingers through her hair and pacing from one side of the room to the other.

“You know, it’s my job to make sure that the royal family comes out in the best possible light in the media but you’re really not making this easy for me.” Jody sat down in her chair and gave him a long, hard stare across the desk. “Your parents aren’t either, granted, but then again they never do.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to hear your apologies, Castiel. I just want you to be honest with me. So, what the hell is going on?”

“I – uh…” Castiel stumbled over his speech, struggling to decide what to say. He looked intently at various different parts of the office instead, the plant on the dresser, the paintings on the wall, the window. Anything else that wasn’t Jody’s face.

“Does this have anything to do with the… incident I had to cover up whilst you were in college?” Jody asked, her voice gentler this time. “I thought you were just making the most of your new found freedom back then, I didn’t think you were actually –”

“Gay?” Castiel finished as he thought back to the time in his first year of college that Jody was referring to, when he’d met a guy and everything was new and different and exciting. He’d thought he was in love, that this would be the start of him being totally honest with his family and the country – but the guy had then realized what it could mean in terms of how much the press would pay for a story like that and had attempted to sell it to a variety of newspapers all over the world. Jody being Jody, though, had realized well in advance what was going on and stopped the stories from ever making the inboxes of the newspapers.

Jody nodded, a wry smile forming across her lips. “Yes. What’s his name?”

“Who?”

Jody sighed. “Don’t play dumb, Castiel. I was a police officer for ten years, I know when someone’s lying to me. So what’s his name?”

“Dean,” Castiel said after a long pause. “Dean Winchester.”

“And I presume that he’s the reason you’re sneaking back into the palace in the early hours of the morning and the guy who’s on the front of this morning’s paper with you?” Jody pulled a copy of the day’s Court Park Times towards her and studied the picture that took up most of the front page, squinting at it. “Well, I can’t tell much from the picture but he looks like a fairly decent guy. Are you sure he’s not going to sell the story to the highest bidder?”

Castiel shook his head. “It’s different,” he said. “Dean’s different. He wouldn’t do that.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Jody put the paper down and turned back to look at Castiel again. “Look, I really don’t give a shit if you’re gay. I don’t particularly care if you want to carrying on seeing him behind everyone’s backs either – frankly, it’s none of my business anyway. But please, please be more careful. The press is on high alert at the moment with anything to do with the royal family and this is only adding fuel to the proverbial fire.”

“I know.”

“So you’re going to carry on seeing him?”

“Just until the wedding –”

“Oh, hell, the _wedding_. You’re still going to marry her after all of this?”

Castiel stared at Jody for a moment. “I have to.”

The look he got in return was a pitying one. “No, Castiel,” Jody said. “You really don’t.”

**Messages with: Dean**

**15:43** Just had a conversation with Jody, the palace PR manager

**15:43 And?**

**15:44** And she says she doesn’t give a shit if I’m gay, but a lot of people will so I need to keep this quiet

 **15:45** She’s advised me not to leave the palace for a few days whilst this all dies down so I don’t think I’ll be able to see you

**15:45 That’s ok, I get it.**

**15:46** Also the palace is releasing a statement to the press saying that I wasn’t at Heaven last night, despite Jody advising them not to. Mother obviously cares more about protecting the royal family’s image than she does my wellbeing but that’s nothing new.

**15:47 So they’re lying?**

**15:47** Yes. Mother doesn’t care that there’s photographic evidence of me leaving Heaven last night either, she just wants everything to carry on as normal, whatever the hell that means.

 **15:48** Just so you know Jody is doing a background check on you and has your number expect a call from her in a few days because I expect you’ll have to sign a NDA

**15:48 NDA??**

**15:49** Non-disclosure agreement. It’s so you don’t go selling your story to the highest bidder, basically

**15:49 oh right ok. I wouldn’t do that anyway but I get why**

**15:49** I know, but thank you, that means a lot

**15:50 :)**

** **

## “HE WASN’T THERE”

**A Royal Statement has been issued regarding Prince Castiel’s whereabouts on 5 th June 2015.**

**_By Lillith Green_ **

The world was in shock when photographs were revealed of Prince Castiel leaving the club ‘Heaven’ on the night of Friday June 5th, but the Palace has since released a Royal Statement on the Prince’s whereabouts on that night.

The statement (pictured above) says that he was at the Palace on the night of the fifth, but with no solid evidence of this – along with the photographs taken on the 5th – many have chosen to not believe the Palace’s statement.

“I think they’re just trying to cover this whole scandal up with even more lies,” said one club-goer who wished to remain anonymous. “The Prince is playing a very dangerous game with this and I don’t think it’s going to end well for anyone.”

Whether or not the Palace have told us the truth remains to be seen, but it seems we’re all anxious to see what happens with the young prince next.

**johnnie boy** @cstlnvk

Annnd they’re lying. Ffs

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

If your royal family is idiotic raise your hand

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

@lovescastiel have you seen this??? bit.ly/29kJJPT

 **Ryan** @lovescastiel

@cxstxxl oh my god why

 **Stars and Stripes** @c_novak_90

Not even surprised anymore.

**Messages with: Dean**

**11:23** Jody’s been on the phone all morning with people from news outlets all over the world and the only way she’s been able to satisfy them is by having an emergency press conference tomorrow

**11:25 which means??**

**11:26** which means I’m going to have to say a speech that they’ve prepared for me and answer questions from the press that will end up being turned into whatever they wanted me to say but didn’t

**11:26 So more lies?**

**11:27** Basically. Jody can’t apologize enough, she says this is making her regret leaving her police career behind

 **11:28** are you doing anything now?

**11:28 No why**

**11:29** Can I come around?

**11:29 Yeah of course but are you sure it’s safe?**

**11:30** Life’s never safe when you’re a prince I’ll be around in 20

Castiel turned up at Dean’s door with a bottle of Bombay Sapphire in one hand and a bottle of Grey Goose vodka in the other. Dean stared in disbelief for a moment, wondering how on earth his life had come to this before stepping aside to let Castiel in.

“Dude, it’s not even twelve,” Dean said as Castiel walked into the apartment and headed into the kitchen, opening the glass cabinet and taking out the shot glasses.

“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Castiel replied, pouring out shots of vodka and pushing half in Dean’s direction. “To us, or something.”

“To us,” Dean echoed numbly, clinking his shot glass against Castiel’s before swallowing the vodka down. By the time Dean had set his glass back down on the counter, Castiel was on his third shot, reaching for the vodka bottle with his spare hand so he could pour more. Dean moved the bottle out of his reach and pushed the shot glasses to the side, placing his hands on top of Castiel’s so he could move them. “Cas.”

Castiel’s eyes were downcast, the lines of worry etched across his face forming creases in his smooth skin. “What the hell am I doing, Dean? This is such a mess.”

“I know,” Dean murmured as he pulled Castiel in a hug. “I know it’s all a mess right now and I know your parents don’t want to face the truth and I know there’s nothing you want to do less than do that stupid press conference tomorrow, but you’ve got to.”

“Why? Why do I have to? Why can’t I just run away from it all?”

“You’re Prince Castiel. I know you don’t particularly want to hear this but you can’t just run away from your problems as the first in line to the throne. That won’t solve anything.”

Tears slipped down Castiel’s cheeks, small damp patches forming on Dean’s shoulder. “It’s hard, though.”

“I know. But it’ll be okay in the end, Cas. It’ll work itself out.”

Castiel pulled back from the hug, wiping the tears away with the sleeve of his shirt. “You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen,” Jody said as she stood at the podium in one of the palace’s many reception rooms that also doubled as the conference room, “To this royal press conference on Monday June 8th 2015\. I will shortly be handing over to His Royal Highness Prince Castiel, who will be releasing a short statement before answering a select number of questions. However, I would just like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Parthley Palace on behalf of His Majesty King Charles and Her Majesty Queen Naomi. Should any issues arise, please let one of our staff members know and they will do their very best to help you. His Royal Highness Prince Castiel.”

There was a smattering of applause as Castiel made his way onto the stage. As he stood at the podium and looked out at the waiting journalists with their cameras, notebooks and sound recorders, he shuffled the prompt cards in his hands. They’d been carefully prepared by Jody earlier in the day, written in blue fountain pen in a neat, controlled handwriting that seemed to stare at him mockingly as he took a deep breath ready to start his speech.

(“This is what you mother wants, Castiel,” Jody had said when she was prepping him for the conference. “Remember that. You don’t have to do what she wants, you know.”

“Yes I do.”

He’d ignored the sad smile he’d got in return as Jody handed over the cards.)

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen.” Castiel shuffled his notecards around a bit more and tried to ignore the long, searching looks the journalists were giving him from all over the room. “These have been a chaotic few weeks. With my wedding to Lady Hannah Milton drawing ever closer, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you all that the upcoming union between us is one formed out of love and an understanding of each other. Recent events have somewhat clouded the spotlight, and I am not going to deny that these past few weeks have been rather stressful. Similarly, I am not going to deny the sightings of me in various places I should not have been in. The statement issued yesterday was a temporary fix to a bigger problem and I had no input in its release. If I’d had any say in it, it wouldn’t have been released at all.

“However, the true fact of the issue at hand is that, whatever my reasoning for being in certain places over the past couple of weeks, I love Hannah, and am looking forward to my union with her on Saturday, and a long and happy marriage with her.”

## OUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED?

**A press conference was held at Parthley Palace yesterday afternoon to discuss Prince Castiel’s upcoming wedding to Lady Hannah.**

**_By Lillith Green_ **

Royal press conferences are something of a rarity these days, when royal statements can be emailed across the world at the push of button. Except here we are, at a royal press conference.  And why?

Well, although royal officials said that the press conference was to discuss Prince Castiel’s upcoming wedding to Lady Hannah Milton, what they really meant was HRH trying to explain his way out of the hole he’s dug himself into these past few weeks.

The prince spent the entirety of the morning looking harassed as questions were fired at him left right and center. Before the questioning began, he gave a short speech on his actions of the past few weeks, which was met with mixed reactions.

“I am not going to denying that these past few weeks have been rather stressful,” the prince said. “Similarly, I am not going to deny the sightings of me in various places I should not have been in. The statement issued yesterday was a temporary fix to a bigger problem and I had no input in its release. If I’d had any say in it, it wouldn’t have been released at all.

“However, the true fact of the issue at hand is that, whatever my reasoning for being in certain places over the past couple of weeks, I love Hannah, and am looking forward to my union with her on Saturday, and a long and happy marriage with her.”

It sounded rehearsed, but the main point everyone picked up on was the fact that the statement issued by the palace on Sunday June 7th was, in fact, a load of lies that was about as much use as a Band-Aid on a broken leg. That on its own posed questions.

“So is there any part of this whole wedding business which is true?” one reporter asked. “Or have you become so entangled in your own web of lies you can’t find a way out anymore?”

“Well, I think the real question is if I truly love Hannah or not. And the answer to that is yes, I do. We’ve always been around each other as we’ve grown up—and as we grew up, we grew closer and eventually entered into a relationship together before I proposed.”

But what about the sightings of the young prince outside well known gay clubs in the city, with another man? Purely coincidence or something more?

“The instance that I was seen in the vicinity of the club Heaven with a man is not, as I’ve already mentioned, something I’m going to deny. Yes I was there, and yes, there was another man present, but that is all there is to it. People are quick to jump to conclusions without having a full picture of everything that happened in a particular situation, and this is one such example of that.”

It seems, then, that the wedding is definitely on.

“Yes, it definitely is.” There was a smile that didn’t quite reach HRH’s eyes that everyone pretended to ignore. “I can’t wait for the rest of my life to start.”

Questions were then deferred to the Royal Secretary, ex police officer Jody Mills, the palace’s official spokesperson and PR manager.  She reassured everyone attending the conference that the wedding between HRH and Lady Hannah will go ahead on Saturday, and that she is sure that although there have been a few bumps in the road during the past few weeks, the final corner has been passed and we are now on the home straight towards a long and happy union between the young couple.

She declined to comment on the Palace’s statement released on Sunday that blatantly lied about HRH’s whereabouts.

**Lena** @cxstxxl

I’d write a list about everything wrong with that press conference but I’d be here until next week

 **Ryan** @lovescastiel

Job vacancy: royal family member. Must be able to lie easily to the press about important matters that we’re not going to admit to.

 **awaiting the crown** @castiel-is-bae

At least the wedding is going ahead, he deserves to be happy

 **Stars and Stripes** @c_novak_90

@castie-is-bae well it’s going ahead at the moment. Give it three days and they’ll change their minds.

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

Just putting this article where it belongs: the trash. pic.twitter.com/23jfgn

Castiel got back to his room after breakfast on Tuesday to find Gabriel sprawled across his bed reading a copy of the day’s Court Park Times.

“In a bit of mess, aren’t we, Cassie?” Gabriel asked as he put the paper down and motioned for Castiel to sit down next to him. “I haven’t seen this much conflict in the media since they locked Lucifer up and took away his royal title. Want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Castiel muttered as he sat down.

“You sure? Because you’re walking around at the moment like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders and you can’t even blame it on the wedding ring on your finger or the crown on your head.”

They sat in silence for a moment, both pointedly looking around the room but making sure not to look at the other, before Castiel replied. “I’m gay, Gabriel. And this is all such – such a _mess_!”

“Jesus,” Gabriel said after a moment of contemplation. “Do your parents know?”

“No. Well, I don’t think so. I haven’t told them but if they’ve worked it out for themselves then they haven’t said anything.”

“Does Jody?”

Castiel nodded. “Jody’s known for a while now.”

Gabriel went silent, trying to make sense of it all in his head. “And I presume from the press conference yesterday that you’re still going to marry Hannah?”

“Have they arrived yet?”

“No, not yet. Hannah’s family have pushed back their arrival until Thursday, two days before the wedding. And they’re not happy – I know they’ve been suspiciously silent whilst this has all been going on, but I found an email this morning. Look.”

 

 **To:** [jody.mills@houseofnovak.com](mailto:jody.mills@houseofnovak.com)

 **From:** [lordandlady@houseofmilton.com](mailto:lordandlady@houseofmilton.com)

 **Subject:** Wedding

 

Dear Ms. Mills,

We have been watching in absolute horror as the events of the past two weeks have unfolded. We have never seen so many lies and so much deceit in my life, and frankly, we expect better from the royal family.

When HRH Prince Castiel proposed to our daughter, we were delighted. They seemed perfectly happy together and it wasn’t until we were made aware of what has been going on by my housekeeper who reads the tabloids that we realized that this maybe is not the best course of action for the young couple. We dread to think how long these antics performed by the young prince have really been going on: you long ago perfected the art of hiding less fortunate situations from the media and we would not be surprised if the press has simply got the better of you this time by beating you to the ‘power’ button at the printing houses. Although we accept that the media can take situations out of context, focusing on the small details that bear no relevance to the story as a whole, we feel that that is not what has happened here: in this instance, the Prince is being rightfully shamed for the media for his, and in extension, the royal family’s, behavior.

At this moment in time, we are happy for the wedding to go ahead if both our daughter and HRH is. If, at any point, it is hinted that the Prince is not as involved in their relationship as he says he is, or he is seen anywhere he should not be, or another article is published, we will not hesitate in putting a stop to the wedding and exposing the royal family as the liars that they are.

Please give our regards to His and Her Majesty.

Yours sincerely,

Lord and Lady Milton

 

“How did you – never mind, I’m not even going to ask how you got into Jody’s emails. Oh, Christ, Gabriel, what am I meant to do?”

“That depends on if you want to please your parents and the country or if you want to write the history books. It’s your decision, but make sure it’s the right one.”

“Now, in three days’ time, Washington D.C. is going to be the place to be for the world’s most important people. With the wedding of Prince Castiel and Lady Hannah drawing ever closer, we turn to our royal correspondent Antonia Bevell, who is in D.C. for us now – so, Antonia, what’s it like over there?”

“Well, preparations are well underway. The florists have been coming and going all day with the most magnificent looking flowers, I’ve heard the choir practicing and have spoken to many people regarding the wedding. Despite recent events, many still seem convinced that this is going to be the event of the century – and it certainly looks set to be that way at the moment.”

“ _Well, these have been a challenging few weeks, but I think that they wouldn’t be going ahead with the wedding if it wasn’t the right decision.”_

_“The sooner this wedding is over, the better, so we can all get on with our lives again.”_

_“Personally I feel that the stress of the wedding has been getting to the royal family within the last couple of weeks. It can’t be easy, having everyone watch your every move like that, and I’m glad they’ve managed to resolve whatever issues they’ve had.”_

“Antonia Bevell, BBC News, Washington D.C.”

“And Antonia will be updating us as everything progresses over there. Moving on to some of the day’s other stories…”

**Messages with: Dean**

**23:34** gabriel took me drinking I feel like this was a bad idea

 **23:35** all I’ve done is think about you when I should’ve been thinking about her

 **23:37** I dont want to marry hher I want to marry you

**23:39 Go home, drink some water and get yourself to bed.**

**23:41** So bossy. I like it ;)

\--Fri, 06/13/15--

 **08:23**...please ignore any texts from last night I am so sorry

**08:41 We’ve all been there, don’t worry about it**

**08:42 Don’t you have a wedding to be getting ready for or something?**

**08:44** Well yes but I’m currently trying to avoid anything bright, loud, or my mother

**08:45 Good luck with that**

**08:47** :) Thank you.


	3. Part III

**BBC America** @BBCAMERICA

Coverage of the #royalwedding starts 10 a.m. EST on BBC America

 **BBC One** @BBCOne

Coverage of the #royalwedding starts at 3 p.m. BST on BBC One. Don’t miss the event of the year!

 **Royal Wedding Updates** @RWUpdates

Thousands have flocked to DC today for the #royalwedding – are we all ready?

 **Fox News** @FoxNews

Coverage of the #royalwedding starts soon on Fox News, make sure you know where your TV remote is – you won’t want to miss this.

\------------------------

Worldwide Trends · Change

**#royalwedding**

23.2K Tweets

**#novakmilton**

20.2K Tweets

**#dontcareabouthewedding**

10.2K Tweets

**#backstreetsback**

@backstreetsback are talking

\------------------------

The day had come.

Castiel could hear the crowds outside of the palace as soon as Kevin woke him up, his breakfast arriving on a tray. Some of them had been camped there overnight just so they could get a good spot to watch the royal procession. There’d be more at Elverston House, waiting to see Princess Hannah and her family leave.

Castiel ate his breakfast, munching on toast smothered with peanut butter and grape jelly as he sat in his window seat, looking down at the crowds all the way down Palace Road. They were all for him and his complete sham of a wedding.

Idiots, he thought as he finished his toast and picked up his phone, dialing Dean’s number.

“Shouldn’t you be putting on a suit and going to the Cathedral?” Dean asked as soon as he picked up.

“Maybe, but I wanted to talk to you.”

So they talked, about everything from Dean’s job at the radio station to how Castiel’s youngest brother Alfie who was seventeen had come home drunk the other night from a party and how Naomi had not been impressed at all. Chuck, on the other hand, had seemed to find the whole situation quite hilarious, and had had to excuse himself halfway through Naomi’s lecture on underage drinking.

“Listen, Cas,” Dean said after Castiel had finished the story, “I want you to know that whatever happens today, I’m still going to be here for you, alright? Just because you’re getting married doesn’t mean this has to be the end of us. Even if you just need a friend to talk to now and again, or you need to escape the madness for a few hours, or whatever else. I’m here for you.”

Castiel smiled. “Thanks, Dean. That means a lot.”

There was a tension in the air at the cathedral. Castiel was stood near the altar, fiddling with the rose in his buttonhole and slipping a hand into his jacket pocket to check that his cell was still there and Dean was just a phone call away.

“Calm down,” Gabriel hissed next to him. “It’ll be fine.”

Gabriel was wrong. It was far from fine. The atmosphere in the cathedral was far too tense for Castiel’s liking, and as everyone stood up as Hannah walked down the aisle, Castiel wanted nothing more than to run away from this church, from this wedding, from this life. Hannah reached the point where Castiel was standing before the altar and she gave him a smile, a small, tight smile that struggled to reach past the corners of her mouth, which he tried to return, but failed. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his mother sporting an equally forced expression.

It was too warm in the cathedral, Castiel decided. His suit, a custom made, one of a kind affair, was feeling far too tight, the collar pressing against his neck and tie feeling like it could cut off his air flow at any given moment. The only comfort Castiel was getting out of the suit was the reassuring pressure of his cell phone in his inside jacket pocket, but even that was switched off so that it wouldn’t have any chance of disturbing the service.

“Welcome Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Lords, Ladies, gentlemen and children,” the bishop said, “to this, the wedding of Prince Castiel of the House of Novak and Lady Hannah of the House of Milton. If anyone knows any reason in law why they may not marry each other, you must declare it now.”

A silence fell across the cathedral, but Castiel didn’t expect anything else. It was a formality, nothing more.

“And now, Castiel and Hannah, I turn to you. If either of you knows any reason in law why you may not marry each other, you must declare it now.”

“I can’t do this.” The words were out of Castiel’s mouth before he could stop them, spoken in a low whisper that seemed to be for his own ears rather than anyone else’s. Louder this time, “I can’t do this, I’m sorry, I can’t do this.” Before he could change his mind again, Castiel turned and started to walk out of the cathedral. He ignored the gasps of the congregation, various security guards exchanging glances with each other wondering if they should stop the prince leaving, the whispered “What’s he _doing_?”, the horrified look on his mother’s face. Once outside the cathedral, he tried not to look at the confused looks on the faces of the crowd who had gathered to watch the royal processions coming and leaving. The royal cars were parked just out of sight of the TV cameras, and Castiel jumped into the first one he saw, rattling off Dean’s address whilst turning his phone on with shaky hands.

“Your Highness, I –”

“Just _drive_!”

“Yes, sir.”

The car pulled away as Castiel’s phone turned on, buzzing with texts from Gabriel and a phone call from Jody that he promptly ignored. Instead, he scrolled through his contacts and called Dean.

“Dean, I –”

“Jesus Christ, Cas, what the fuck have you done?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t do it and I realized that I didn’t have to if I didn’t want to. So I just kind of… left.”

“Cas, you don’t ‘just kind of leave’ your own wedding! I mean, that’s crazy enough at any wedding, but at yours, which was being televised all around the world? Have you lost your fucking mind?”

“I thought you’d be pleased, Dean.” Castiel spoke quietly, the realization of what he’d just done beginning to settle in. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Pleased? Cas, I’m – I’m fucking ecstatic, I’ve got Charlie jumping up and down next to me like a fucking sunbeam and my brother’s just won twenty bucks off his girlfriend over the stunt you just pulled. I just didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

Castiel smiled. “That’s good, I guess. Look, Dean, I’m on my way over now –”

“You’re what? Why?”

“Because I do not want anything to do with that fucking wedding at the moment and I’ll probably be skinned alive if I go back to the palace now, which isn’t a good thing for anyone involved.”

“I’d better take down the bunting, then,” Dean joked. “You’re sure it’s safe for you to come over?”

“Not really, but I want to see you. I’m sick of hiding, Dean. I just – I want to be with you.”

“You too, Cas. You too.”

## Prince walks out of his own wedding

**Sat, June 13th 2015 14:32 p.m.**

**HRH Prince Castiel has just walked out of his wedding to Lady Hannah of the House of Milton, we can confirm.**

**_By Meg Masters_ **

The wedding, which was being held at Washington National Cathedral with some 2000 guests, was stopped after the Prince suddenly announced that he “couldn’t do it”, and stormed out of the Cathedral.

A guest at the wedding said, “It was like a scene from a movie. I think after recent events some people kind of expected something like this would happen, but at the same time, I don’t think anyone imagined the Prince would do something quite like this.”

The recent events—the Prince spotted leaving apartment buildings early in the morning and leaving a gay club with another man—have been ones that have sparked much debate, with many suspecting that the wedding to Lady Hannah was one big cover up for the Prince’s supposed closeted sexuality.

Whatever the reasoning for the Prince’s outburst, and where he went after walking out on his own wedding remains unknown for now, but be sure to keep up with the conversation on Twitter @courtparktimes using the hashtags #princemystery and #royalwedding

**Court Park Times** @courtparktimes

Prince Castiel walks out on his own wedding: bit.ly/1rtf0Zb #princemystery #royalwedding

 **Prince Castiel Fans** @princecastielfans

well, shit bit.ly/1rtf0Zb #princemystery #royalwedding

 **Royal Wedding Updates** @RWUpdates

yes, the rumors are true, the prince has left the wedding bit.ly/1rtf0Zb #royalwedding

 **BBC News (World)** @BBCWorld

HRH Prince Castiel has just walked out of his wedding: pic.twitter.com/1fsjr5a

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

holy fuck bit.ly/1rtf0Zb #princemystery #royalwedding

 **Stars and Stripes** @c_novak_90

called it bit.ly/1rtf0Zb #princemystery #royalwedding

 **Ryan** @lovescastiel

I’m stood outside the cathedral and everyone’s losing their shit CALM DOWN PEOPLE #princemystery #royalwedding

 **Ryan** @lovescastiel

tbh I think this is probably for the best even if it was a dramatic exit strategy #princemystery #royal wedding

 **first in line** @MidnightPrincess

@lovescastiel you can’t say that he and Hannah are meant to be together

 **Ryan** @lovescastiel

@MidnightPrincess sorry to burst your bubble but they’re really not

 **Ryan** @lovescastiel

@MidnightPrincess I think his recent actions prove that

 **first in line** @MidnightPrincess

@lovescastiel but he said at the press conference that the wedding wasn’t a sham and that he loved her?

 **Ryan** @lovescastiel

@MidnightPrincess has it occurred to you that people sometimes lie to make a situation look better

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

@lovescastiel @MidnightPrincess I agree he was probably told to say what he said on Monday

 **Royal Wedding Updates** @RWUpdates

the crowds are slowly being led away by police, everyone is upset and demanding answers #royalwedding

 **BBC America** @BBCAMERICA

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the broadcast of the #royalwedding will shortly be terminated

\-------------------------

Worldwide Trends · Change

**#royalwedding**

78.5K Tweets

**#princemystery**

52.4K Tweets

**#runawayprince**

38.8K Tweets

**#NovakMilton**

\-------------------------

 **johnnie boy** @cstlnvk

wonder what’s going to happen now #royalwedding #princemystery

 **Stars and Stripes** @c_novak_90

@cstlnvk think it’s fair to say we all want an explanation #princemystery #royalwedding

 **Court Park Times** @courtparktimes

we’re getting reports of the prince entering the same apartment block he was seen leaving on 5/30 can anyone confirm? #princemystery

 **LGBT News DC** @lgbtnewsdc

RT @courtparktimes: we’re getting reports of the prince entering the same apartment block he was seen leaving on 5/30 can anyone confirm? #princemystery

**Messages with: Gabriel**

**14:13 WHATTHEFUCKWASTHAT**

**14:13 YOU JUST LEFT YOUR OWN WEDDING**

**14:14 Is this you finally telling your mother ‘fuck you’ because if it is then I applaud you**

**14:14 family fallouts and exposing the flaws in the monarchy don’t get much bigger than this well done cassie**

**14:15 go off and have your big rainbow wedding now ;)**

**14:17 Update: your mother is screaming at Jody, your father, your brothers, me, the bishop, basically anyone within hearing distance**

**14:17 Michael’s looking way too smug I think he’s hoping you’re going to be excluded from the line of succession**

**14:18 Should someone remind him that his twin brother is in supermax or**

**14:21 Just left the cathedral things aren’t looking pretty**

**14:21 Crowds are not happy**

**14:22 Hannah’s not even crying??? She just looks kind of… disappointed? Relieved? I can’t tell**

**14:23 Her parents are now talking in Hushed Tones to your parents oh god this is terrible and way too public someone stop this**

**14:23 We’re heading back to the palace now (one of the cars seems to be missing, can’t think why) and I’m in the same car as Alfie he says that he knows this is for the best and hopes he’ll meet the boyfriend soon**

**14:25 Wise words from the high school student but I didn’t know you were out to him**

**14:26 Jody just text me says your phone’s off but I’m going to keep spamming you anyway**

** **

When Castiel let himself into Dean’s apartment, he was expecting to be alone with his lover. Although Dean had mentioned Charlie, his brother and his girlfriend whilst on the phone, he’d sort of presumed that they would have made their excuses and left, rather than sitting in Dean’s living room and acting like having a prince stroll through the door was a normal occurrence.

“I, um. Hello,” Castiel said, taking in the couple sitting on Dean’s loveseat, obviously Dean’s brother and his girlfriend, and the girl with the red hair on the other side of the room who was wearing a t-shirt that referenced at least four popular movies.

“Cas.” Dean crossed the room from where he’d been standing in the kitchen and pulled him into a hug. “You okay?”

“I think so. Am I interrupting anything? I feel like I’m interrupting.”

“No, not at all,” said the girl with the red hair. “We were watching your failed attempt at getting married, but they’ve ended the broadcast now and are showing an old Disney film instead, which feels a bit ironic. Anyway, I’m Charlie, I work with Dean at the radio station, and that’s Sam, Dean’s brother, and Jess, Sam’s girlfriend.”

“Hello,” Castiel said. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

“It’s an honor to meet you too, um…” Jess trailed off, a line of worry settling into her forehead. “Sorry, I’m not sure how to address you properly. I feel like I should be curtsying or something.”

“Please don’t,” Castiel said as he walked over to Dean’s kitchen, pulling the Bombay Sapphire out of the cupboard and making himself a gin and tonic that was probably more gin than it was tonic. “No curtseying or bowing or titles. Just Castiel is fine.”

“Okay,” Charlie said slowly, watching as Castiel put the half empty bottle of gin back in the cupboard and as he made himself at home, sitting next to Dean on the couch and stretching out. “So, Castiel, do you come here often? Because I know Dean doesn’t drink gin.”

“I’m around, occasionally,” Castiel said vaguely as he sipped his drink. “When I can get away, you know how it is.”

“Right,” Charlie said, her eyebrows raised as she exchanged glances with Sam and Jess across the room. “So, what happens now? Is there some sort of protocol that’s ready to be put in place when you stop your wedding on live TV and cause a scandal or is everyone at the palace in the same amount of panic as the rest of the world?”

“I don’t really know,” Castiel admitted as he finished off the last of his drink. “The palace PR manager keeps ringing me and Gabriel has spammed me with about sixty texts in the last five minutes alone but I’m just going to ignore them all for a while until it all dies down a bit. That probably won’t happen, but I’m just going to pretend for now.”

“But you’re definitely not marrying Hannah? You’re going to cause the political scene to grind to a complete halt by walking out of your own wedding and, I presume, come out as America’s first openly gay prince?”

“Yes,” Castiel said, smiling up at Dean. “I suppose I am.”

** **

The palace was eerily silent when Castiel let himself in. The kitchens were in darkness, there were no staff in sight – Castiel was used to at least passing the butler as he walked around the palace, but it seemed like they’d all been sent home apart from the guards standing on the gates and entrances, all standing to attention and seeming more alert than usual. It was past seven in the evening, and Castiel hadn’t planned to stay that late at Dean’s, but they’d ended up ordering pizzas and had spent the afternoon getting to know each other, exchanging childhood stories and steadily making their way through Dean’s drink cabinet.

As Castiel approached the grand staircase, he could hear the distant shouts of his mother, Jody, and what sounded like Gabriel. Gingerly, he made his way up the stairs, carefully avoiding the steps that he knew creaked and headed towards the source of the noise. It was coming from the second dining room – the main one, which could seat over a hundred people, was situated on the first floor – and as he drew closer, he could make out more of the conversation.

“…completely outrageous, I don’t know how you let this happen!”

“Well maybe if you actually talked to your son instead of assuming what he was feeling then you wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place!”

“Don’t you dare assume that you know my son better than I do!”

Castiel pushed open the door and all eyes turned to him. It seemed like his entire family was there discussing his life without him: Chuck was sat at the head of the table, sipping whiskey, Jody and Naomi were stood at either side of the table, stood up as they took a break in the screaming match that appeared to have been going on long before Castiel’s arrival, Gabriel was sitting with his head in his hands and the rest of Castiel’s family were all sat looking like they really wanted to be anywhere else but here.

“Castiel,” Naomi said eventually. “You’re back.”

“Evidently.”

Silence fell again around the room. “Where have you been?”

“Out.”

“Out where?”

Castiel was starting to regret that last gin and tonic. “Dean’s.”

“Who’s Dean?” Naomi asked at the time Castiel heard Gabriel mutter, “Oh Christ, here we go.”

“My… boyfriend? I mean, we haven’t really had that conversation but I presume that he is.”

“Your boyfriend,” Naomi repeated. “Your _boyfriend_.”

“Yes, my boyfriend, is that a problem?”

“The problem is that you lied to us, Castiel. You’ve lied about where you’ve been, who you’ve been with, what you’ve been doing – and not just these past few weeks either. You lied to your own parents and that’s not acceptable.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Good. Now –”

“You’re just going to let him get away with it?” Michael snapped from the other end of the table. “He’s brought the royal family under the most intense scrutiny and him saying he’s sorry is just going to fix it all?”

“He walked out of his wedding, Michael, he didn’t torture and murder countless innocent people,” Jody said in a tired tone. “Believe me when I say this isn’t the worst thing I’ve had to deal with.”

“Yes, but –”

“The twentieth,” Chuck said, speaking for the first time in the evening as he poured himself another whiskey. “That’s when Dean’s coming to dinner. It would be nice to meet him properly.”

Michael frowned. Castiel smiled. “Thanks, dad.”

** **

**Messages with: Dean**

**19:42** I hope you’re free on the 20th. If not then make yourself free because you’re coming to dinner

**19:44 Coming to dinner as in meet the parents dinner?**

**19:45** Exactly that

**19:46 It’s going to be about six courses all with little knives and forks and awkward conversation isn’t it oh god I don’t have anything smart enough for that this is going to be terrible**

**19:48** You’ll get an official invitation soon but don’t worry I’ve secured you a meeting with the family tailor for Tuesday 16th I’ll text you the details as soon as I know them

**19:49 Okay**

** **

## LEFT AT THE ALTAR

**“I’m not marrying her!” said Prince Castiel at 2:13 p.m. yesterday afternoon. “I can’t marry her.”**

**_By Lillith Green_ **

It was the sentence the world never wanted to hear, but at the same time, sort of expected. Recent events (such as the Prince spotted leaving a mystery apartment building and the gay club Heaven) had led to many doubts of the marriage between the two, but many had still hoped it would be a happy union.

But that, of course, didn’t happen. The Prince’s outburst happened after the wedding ceremony had started, at the moment when the Bishop had asked if anyone knew any reason why they may not marry each other. His mind had clearly been made up as he stormed down the aisle, screaming about how he didn’t want to marry her. Outside, crowds were shocked to see the Prince leaving the building when the ceremony wasn’t due to end for at least another half an hour.

Prince Castiel left the scene as quickly as he could, leaving in one of the palace cars. As the cathedral was emptied of disappointed guests, including a very teary Lady Hannah and a furious looking Queen Naomi, the crowd had more questions, most of which were demanding to know what was going on.

At 3 p.m., a Palace spokesperson said that “The abrupt end to proceedings was a huge disappointment for all involved, but the Palace hopes that everyone can see it was for the best.”

It may well be, but this has just ended up posing more questions about the young prince. Many are suggesting that all the events over the past few weeks are connected, and that there is a secret someone that HRH has been hiding from us this whole time that he actually wants to marry. Whatever the reasoning, we hope that the Prince will end up with the happy ending that he deserves.

** **

_The Master of the Household is commanded by_

_the King and Queen to invite_

**_Dean Winchester_ **

_to a Dinner to be given by_

_The King and Queen_

_at Parthley Palace_

_on Saturday June 20th, 2015 at 7.00 p.m. for 7.30 p.m._

_Dress: Black Tie_

_A reply is requested to:_

_Invitations Secretary, Master of the Household’s Office,_

_Parthley Palace, Washington, D.C._

_ _

_Mr. Dean Winchester presents his compliments to the Master of the Household and has the honor to obey His and Her Majesty’s command to Dinner on June 20th at 7.00 p.m._

_ _

_ _

## “I’M GAY”

**HRH Prince Castiel has come out in an exclusive interview with Court Park Times.**

**_By Lillith Green_ **

It was a normal day at the Court Park Times HQ in Washington D.C. until HRH Prince Castiel marched into our offices and demanded that we give him an interview. We obliged, and the prince was soon sat down opposite a team of intrigued writers with notebooks and pens at the ready. The palace PR manager, Jody Mills, was nowhere in sight.

“I’m gay,” was the first thing that HRH said. Pens scribbled furiously, but the news did not come as a complete surprise. After walking out of his wedding to Lady Hannah Milton last Saturday just minutes after the Bishop had welcomed the guests, the confirmation that the prince is not as straight as everyone thought seemed only a natural progression to the recent events. In fact, many online have suspected HRH’s sexuality for a while now, for example with the hashtag #notsostraight which trended on Twitter after the Prince was seen leaving the nightclub Heaven in the late hours of 06/05.

Although we can now see why he walked out of the wedding last Saturday, couldn’t he have put a stop to proceedings sooner and caused everyone a lot less heartache?

“Perhaps so,” the Prince admitted. “But as much as I hate to say this, it was just expected of me to marry a girl. I just went through the motions in the planning stages, but when the day finally arrived I suddenly realized that I didn’t have to marry her if I didn’t want to. Well, that’s not strictly true – I knew I didn’t have to marry her, it was just a question of whether or not I was actually going to do the right thing. And I did, eventually. It just took a while for me to get to that point.”

It has taken a while for the Prince to get to the point where he’s comfortable with showing the world who he really is. He’s twenty-five in August, and in an age where LGBTQ+ people are discovering and being open about their sexualities earlier in life than previous generations, the Prince almost seems late to the coming out party. So is he ashamed to admit it?

“I’m not ashamed to admit it, no,” he said. “I’ve been hiding who I am for twenty-five years, that’s long enough.”

So why keep it from the public – and, presumably, the rest of the royal family – for so long?

“The entirety of my life has been preparing me for the day I’ll be king,” HRH said. “There is a lot of responsibility that comes with being first in line to the throne and when I was in high school and college I was always worrying about what would happen if I did come out – people saying I wasn’t fit to be king and forcing me to abdicate the throne or excluding me from the line of succession. Now, though, I am happy to embrace any troubles that I may face after coming out.”

The big question: did his family know?

There was a long pause. “They might have suspected, yes,” the Prince eventually said. “[HRH Prince] Gabriel knew, but he was the only one that I’d actually told. It was certainly an interesting conversation to say the least.”

And the one everyone’s dying to ask: is there someone else in the Prince’s life, someone that might have been behind some of his reasoning for walking out on his wedding?

“That would be telling,” the Prince said with a smile as he got up to leave.  

That’s almost certainly a ‘yes’, then, but it only leaves us with even more questions: who’s the boyfriend? How long have they been in a relationship? Is there another royal wedding on the horizon, one that Prince Castiel will actually go through with? And are we headed for a country with two kings?

Whatever the outcome, we’re happy that Prince Castiel finally feels comfortable enough to be honest about his sexuality with the world.

It was the interview we’d never thought he’d give, saying the things we’d never thought he’d say.

However, here we are. Prince Castiel is gay – and the whole world knows it.

_ _

“You’re listening to Purgatory Radio, I’m Dean Winchester and the news headlines for two o’clock this afternoon. Our main story is that Prince Castiel has come out as gay – holy shit, what?”

_ _

**Messages with: Cas**

**14:04** why didn’t you tell me you were coming out? I just found out as I was reading the news headlines on air and ended up swearing Benny is not pleased with me

**14:06 Sorry, I should’ve told you. Not entirely sure how it took you until 2 p.m. to find out though?**

**14:07** I spent the entirety of this morning being fitted for a ridiculous suit for the dinner this weekend I haven’t really had time to check the news

**14:08 Of course, I’d forgotten about that. How did it go?**

**14:14** I spent three hours being used as a pincushion how do you think it went

**14:15 …not well?**

**14:16** At least I’ve got a suit for Saturday now

**14:17 True**

**14:17 Are you looking forward to it?**

**14:23** Well I’m a bit worried that I’ll fuck it up in some way but yeah I think I am looking forward to it

 **14:24** Trying to think of it as ‘meeting the parents’ rather than ‘meeting the king and queen’

**14:28 I’m sure you’ll be fine**

**14:29** Let’s hope so

_ _

Saturday arrived all too quickly for Dean’s liking. He spent most of the time running up to the evening fretting about how he was supposed to act around royalty – sure, he’d met Castiel, but this was different, even if Castiel was the first in line to the throne. This was the King and Queen, the King and Queen who hosted the most envied parties and balls on the planet, the King and Queen who had their own private plane for when they went to visit other royal families or prime ministers, the King and Queen who probably had the President on speed dial – but this was the King and Queen who also happened to be his boyfriend’s parents.

Not for the first time, Dean wondered how the hell he’d ended up in this situation.

“You’re meeting the King and Queen?” Sam had practically squealed down the phone when Dean had told him the news. “And the rest of the royal family, like Michael and Gabriel and so on?”

“Yes.”

“That’s incredible! Do you have any idea how lucky you are? I bet the palace is fascinating, do you reckon you’ll see some of the private rooms, you know the ones they actually live in, rather than the ones that are just used for state occasions and the ones they take the tourists around?”

“Probably. I mean I hardly think we’re going to be sitting in the grand dining room for a family dinner, even if it is black tie.”

“You’ll let me know how it goes, right?”

“Of course, Sammy.”

Dean’s suit arrived on Saturday morning, delivered by a guy who smiled far too much for nine a.m. on the weekend, and Charlie was bouncing over and unzipping the bag as soon as Dean got back through the door of his apartment.

“This really is a big thing, isn’t it? The last time I met my girlfriend’s parents for the first time I turned up in the most tattered pair of jeans I owned and an old Lord of the Rings t-shirt. We sat in the garden, drank some beers and had a barbeque. This is… this is a whole different ball game.”

“Believe me, Charlie, I know,” Dean said as he hung the suit up on the doorframe of his bedroom. “This suit is made to measure; you know? And Castiel just sent me to the family tailor and paid for it like it was nothing. It’s a whole other world.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that? Fitting into the elitist of the elite?” Charlie asked, biting her lip. “You’re going to have the media following your every move once they release your name to the press.”

“I know.”

Charlie smiled. “Good. Well, I’ve got to go, but I wish you luck. I hope you get through tonight in one piece.”

“Me too, Charlie. Me too.”

_ _

_ _

The palace was unlike any place Dean had ever been in before. As the butler led him to one of the many reception rooms, he stared around in awe at his surroundings. Paintings of kings and queens gone by adorned the walls, golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling, suits of armor stood in corners and Dean felt very out of place amongst it all.

The butler paused outside a door, his hand on the doorknob. Dean could hear the faint sounds of conversation and Mozart playing on the other side of the door. “In a moment I will present you to the King and Queen, after which you shall bow, which is an inclination of the head and not from the waist. Also present this evening are Prince Castiel, Prince Samandriel although he may well ask you to call him Alfie, Prince Zachariah, Prince Michael and Prince Gabriel. Do you have any questions?”

“No,” Dean said, his mouth feeling dry.

“Very well.” The butler opened the door and walked into the room. “Your Majesties and Your Royal Highnesses, may I present Mr. Dean Winchester.”

Nothing could quite prepare Dean for the moment where he walked into the room where seven members of the royal family were waiting for him. He smiled tentatively and bowed before Gabriel broke the silence.

“So,” he said slowly, sipping on a cocktail as he lounged around in one of the armchairs, “you’re the one that Castiel’s been fucking.”

“Gabriel!” Naomi said sharply. “Language!”

“Just saying it like it is, Naomi.”

“There are children present!”

“Mom, I’m seventeen, not seven,” Alfie whined from the corner of the room.

“Yes, thank you, I am aware,” Naomi said, her lips forming into a thin, tight smile. “Dean, do sit down. So, what is it you do?”

“I’m a radio presenter,” Dean said as he sat down next to Castiel.

“You like music then, I presume?”

“Very much so,” Dean replied, glad the conversation was on a subject he could talk confidently about. “For example, I could tell you that playing currently is Mozart’s Concerto No. 3 in G Major for violin and orchestra, second movement.”

Naomi’s smile faltered slightly. “I’m not sure –”

“He’s right,” Chuck said, looking pleased as he set his drink aside. “Have you ever been to Salzburg? There is nothing quite like hearing Mozart played live until you’ve heard it played in Austria. Beautiful city, too. Wonderful architecture.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Well, you must. Don’t you think, Naomi?”

Naomi’s smile seemed tighter than ever. “Of course.”

_ _

“So, your parents,” Michael said somewhere into the fish course, “what do they do?”

Dean paused with his fork halfway between his plate and his mouth. Castiel shot him a sympathetic look across the table as Dean put down his fork and took a sip of wine.

“My dad was in the Marines,” Dean eventually said when all eyes around the table were on him, awaiting an answer. “Mom stayed at home and looked after me and my little brother Sammy. She died in a house fire when I was four and dad became an alcoholic after she died, eventually drinking himself to death when I was nineteen. I basically brought Sam up on my own but it paid off because he’s at Stanford now.”

Everyone around the table bar Castiel looked shocked and horrified. “That’s terrible,” Gabriel said, sounding solemn. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s life, though,” Dean shrugged as he cut up his salmon. “It’s not perfect.”

_ _

“When did you start sleeping with the same sex?”

“ _Excuse me?_ ”

_ _

“Have you ever slept with someone for money?”

“Do I look like a rent boy to you?”

_ _

“Have you been tested for STDs or HIV within the past three months?”

Dean just about choked on the wine he was swallowing. “Yes, and I’m totally clean. You want to see my doctor’s note or something?”

“Do you think I passed?” Dean asked Castiel later that night when they were in Castiel’s room, lying on his bed side by side. “I’ve never been more interrogated by someone’s parents in my life.”

“That was the worst dinner I’ve ever had to sit through,” Castiel admitted as Dean stared up at the ceiling and the intricate designs in the plaster work. “If I’d know they were going to be that bad I would’ve said something to them beforehand. But yes, I think you passed.”

“Good,” Dean smiled, leaning in to kiss Castiel. “Because I don’t want to give up on us now.”

**Prince Castiel Fans** @princecastielfans

Opinions on the Palace’s silence since Prince Castiel’s coming out on Tuesday? #royalsilence

 **Ryan** @lovescastiel

@princecastielfans think it’s good they’re having some time out of the spotlight tbh #royalsilence

 **awaiting the crown** @castiel-is-bae

Waiting for it to all blow over probably #royalsilence

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

Maybe they’re waiting to announce something else big, who knows #royalsilence

\------------------

Worldwide Trends · Change

**#Summertime**

14.8K Tweets

**#TayTaynewBF**

10.2K Tweets

**#royalsilence**

6.7K Tweets

**#BLTs**

\----------------

For the first time ever, Dean was nervous about walking into the Roadhouse. It was the place that had been his safe house when he’d first arrived in DC, the place he’d gone to whenever things weren’t going to plan, mostly because Ellen was an old friend of Bobby’s, and also because she served him when she knew he was underage and never asked too many questions. He’d crashed on Ellen’s couch for three months when he gave Sam his rent money so he could find his feet during the first few weeks of college, and he lived in the comfort of knowing that the Harvelles would always be there, no matter what time of day or night.

And yet, here he was, directing the driver of one of the palace’s many cars with the bulletproof windows and enforced doors into the tiny parking lot behind the bar, about to introduce his friends and family to his boyfriend, who also happened to be first in line to the American throne. Dean still struggled with the concept that yes, this was somehow his life now, but he didn’t complain.

“You ready?” Dean asked as the car slowed to a stop as the driver pulled into one of the parking spaces. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, you know.”

“No, I want to,” Castiel replied. “You’ve met my family, it’s only fair that I meet yours. Anyway, it’s hardly going to be any worse than that awful dinner my mother put us through.”

Dean let out a laugh as he moved to open the car door, thinking of the other evening which had had five courses of food Dean couldn’t pronounce and had been full of invasive questions about his personal life and family. “Let’s go, then.”

A silence fell across the bar when Dean and Castiel walked in. The regulars playing cards in the corner and drinking cheap whiskey did a double take when they realized who had just walked in, their eyes traveling from their whiskey glasses to the couple and back again, as though the alcohol was making them hallucinate. Dean spotted two palace guards in plain clothes sitting strategically near the exits of the Roadhouse, one typing on a laptop and the other drinking a glass of coke and picking at a plate of fries, but both still keeping a watchful eye over the whole bar.

“Dean! Castiel! Over here!”

Charlie was waving them over to the back of the bar, where Ellen had pushed several tables together in order to make room for everyone. Dean led Castiel over and they sat down at the two available seats, Castiel at the head of the table with Dean at his side. Ellen brought out drinks for everyone, including a gin and tonic for Castiel – “I had to get Bombay Sapphire in specially, consider yourself lucky” to which he replied that she really shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble and that it wasn’t necessary.

“Ignore her,” Jo said, leaning back in her chair and stretching out. “You won’t win that argument. She wouldn’t dare give you anything but what you wanted. You know she spent four hours on the phone with Dean checking that her menu choices were all okay aren’t weren’t going to end up with her being charged for treason?”

“Really, there was no need –”

“This is the first time Dean has ever introduced anyone to us,” Ellen said as she went around the table with the bottle opener. “Prince or not, you’re special to him, so you’re getting the special treatment, alright?”

Castiel smiled and let himself relax. “Alright. But please, don’t treat me any differently just because I’m a prince. I would just like to be Dean’s boyfriend for this evening, if that is at all possible.”

“Of course,” Ellen said. “Now, who wants food?”

## A MODERN FAIRY TALE

**Spotted: Prince Castiel and Dean Winchester leaving Harvelle’s Roadhouse**

**_By Ruby Cassidy_ **

Ever since Prince Castiel walked out his wedding to Lady Hannah Milton and his subsequent coming out, all eyes have been on the first in line to throne, with many wondering what his next move will be.

And his next move was this: being seen out in public with another man after leaving a family owned bar. The same man, in fact, that he was seen leaving the gay club Heaven with in the late hours of June 5th. The man has now been identified as Dean Winchester, who grew up in Lawrence, Kansas and moved to D.C. in 2009 to pursue a career being a radio DJ: he’s currently a presenter at D.C. based rock station Purgatory Radio on the afternoon show from 2-5 on weekdays. Although there has been no confirmation as of yet, it is presumed that Winchester is the boyfriend that Castiel has secretly been seeing over the past few weeks, which begs the question of if Castiel did indeed have an affair behind Lady Hannah and the country’s backs.

The two were seen leaving Harvelle’s Roadhouse at 10:37 p.m. on 06/26, which is a small bar near the center of D.C. that is apparently frequented by Winchester on the weeknights. It has a selected group of regulars, and one who was at the bar at the same time as the prince agreed to speak with us about the event.

“He didn’t answer to any titles throughout the evening,” the local, who asked to remain anonymous, revealed. “He probably wanted to be like a normal guy meeting his boyfriend’s family for the first time, I guess. Just because he’s got titles doesn’t mean that he’s any less of a regular person underneath the letters printed on bits of paper.”

That may be so, but what does this mean for the monarchy as a whole? Is it simply an attempt to seem “cool” or “accessible”, or is it rooted in deeper fears of the monarchy collapsing or being abolished and working as a last-ditch attempt to make everything seem stable? And what does it say about Castiel’s future kingship, if he ever has one? Ever since his coming out, there have been more and more calls from members of the general population and politicians alike for Castiel to give up his place in the line of succession, saying that the palace is no place for someone like him, saying “the monarchy isn’t what it used to be” or that this is “just another reason why we shouldn’t have a monarchy at all.” These are uncertain times for the young prince, and all eyes will remain on him in the coming weeks. 

The Palace, Dean Winchester and Harvelle’s Roadhouse have not yet commented on the situation.

**johnnie boy** @cstlnvk

ahh yes I was wondering when the anti-monarchists would come out of the woodwork

 **Dan or something** @castielsfans

@courtparktimes you call this journalism? #leavecasalone2k15

 **amie** @castiel1990

@courtparktimes this is disgusting, you’ve supported cas for so long and now this?? #leavecasalone2k15

 **Stars and Stripes** @c_novak_90

@courtparktimes the monarchy isn’t collapsing if anything it’s stronger than ever this article is garbage #leavecasalone2k15

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

@courtparktimes WHAT. THE. FUCK. #leavecasalone2k15

 **Prince Castiel Fans** @princecastielfans

Opinions on the backlash @courtparktimes is receiving over today’s front page?

 **awaiting the crown** @castiel-is-bae

@princecastielfans @courtparktimes totally unjustified, they’re only reporting as the news as they see it

 **Ryan** @lovescastiel

@princecastielfans @courtparktimes they basically said Castiel’s going to make the monarchy collapse, it’s bullshit #leavecasalone2k15

 **first in line** @MidnightPrincess

@princecastielfans @courtparktimes they said what needed to be said, they were voicing a minority that’s been shouted over

 **Princess Brooke** @futureprincess

@princecastielfans @courtparktimes #leavecasalone2k15 is somewhere to go for a laugh at least

 **Edie** @novak90

@princecastielfans @courtparktimes I can see both sides, both have blown it out of proportion, but I don’t think the article was right

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

RT @novak90: @princecastielfans @courtparktimes I can see both sides, both have blown it out of proportion, but I don’t think the article was right

**Messages with: Cas**

**12:32** So I didn’t know we were single handedly going to bring the monarchy down but I must have missed that memo

**12:36 Why are you reading the tabloids?**

12:36 I’m not it’s all over the internet and it’s just been on the news headlines

**12:37 It’s ridiculous please don’t pay any attention**

**12:37** I’m not

 **12:38** I just think it’s funny how they think the royal family accepting that the first in line to the throne is gay is going to mean that the palace is going to end up as a big empty house in a few weeks

**12:38 I know, even my mother thinks it’s ridiculous**

**12:39 Says she “can’t believe they printed such a thing”**

**12:39 Her exact words: “yes you’re gay but it’s not the end of the world”**

**12:39 I think that was her being accepting**

**12:40** Well that’s something at least

**12:42 True**

**12:43 Look I’ve been thinking**

**12:43** Yes?

**12:44 Do you want to move into the palace once your lease is up on your apartment? I mean I know it’s not really the “proper” way to do things but we’ve never really done things properly have we?**

**12:52** Cas.

**12:53 Yes?**

**12:53** I’d love to.


	4. Part IV (Epilogue)

_The Lord Chamberlain is commanded by_

_the King and Queen to invite_

**_Mr. Samuel Winchester and Miss Jessica Moore_ **

_to the Marriage of_

_His Royal Highness Prince Castiel of the House of Novak_

_with_

_Mr. Dean Winchester_

_at Washington National Cathedral_

_on Friday May 20th, 2016 at 2.00 p.m._

_Dress: Uniform, Morning Coat or Lounge Suit_

_A reply is requested to:_

_State Invitations Secretary, Lord Chamberlain’s Office,_

_Parthley Palace, Washington, D.C._

_ _

_ _

_Mr. Samuel Winchester and Miss Jessica Moore present their compliments to the Lord Chamberlain and have the honor to obey His and Her Majesty’s command to the wedding of HRH Prince Castiel and Dean Winchester on May 20th at 2.00 p.m._

_ _

“And now, we’ll turn to Gina, who is currently stood outside Washington National Cathedral. We can see that the happy couple has just come out of the cathedral and are about to get into one of the horse drawn carriages to take them back to the palace – Gina, what’s the atmosphere like down there?”

“It’s absolutely incredible, Tom. People are cheering and waving flags and everyone is having the time of their lives. There are people from all over here today – and not just all corners of the United States either. I’ve spoken to people that have flown all the way from Australia and the United Kingdom just to be here and the number of people that have turned out in support of Prince Castiel and Dean in general has to be seen to be believed. There are police officers and military personnel everywhere making sure everything stays under control but they aren’t taking anything away from the atmosphere – if anything, it’s just securing the fact that this is safe environment.”

“What about the people who weren’t as supportive of this particular marriage?”

“Well, although the Westboro Baptist Church were rumored to be picketing the wedding, I haven’t seen anything of them. There were a few people with anti-monarchy placards earlier, but they are now shielded from view by all the people who do support the royal family and this marriage. I think it’s simply a case of the love outweighing the hate on this one, Tom.”

“So all in all it’s a positive atmosphere?”

“Definitely. Regardless of your views on the monarchy, royal weddings are an occasion that bring the whole country – and, in extension, the world – together. It’s incredible to see and I would say to anyone watching wondering if they should go out and join the party, do it: especially if you’re in the D.C. area, as there seems to be something going on every corner. Back to you in the studio, Tom.”

“And that was Gina Mendoza, reporting from Washington D.C. outside Washington National Cathedral, where the wedding of Prince Castiel and Dean Winchester has just taken place. We’ll be updating you shortly, but for now, let’s take a look at the weather for the week ahead.”

_ _

**Prince Castiel Fans** @princecastielfans

Congrats to Dean and Castiel on their wedding! pic.twitter.com/1stjg3b

 **Lena** @cxstxxl

They’re finally married we’ve all waited so long for this moment #royalwedding

 **Ryan** @lovescastiel

They’ve just come out of the venue and they look so happy I want someone to look at me the way Dean looks at Castiel #royalwedding pic.twitter.com/2gjs5b

_ _

## A SECOND ATTEMPT

**HRH Prince Castiel and Dean Winchester finally get married.**

**_By Lillith Green_ **

The day had finally arrived. After Prince Castiel’s shock coming out in June last year and subsequent engagement to Dean Winchester, it seemed that it was only a matter of time until the wedding date was announced.

The date was announced in November, and on May 2Oth, thousands lined the streets of Washington from Parthley Palace to the wedding venue at Washington National Cathedral in NW Washington. People from all walks of life lined the streets, young and old, waving handheld flags of both the stars and stripes and the LGBTQ rainbow one.

It was a full state event, with the day being declared a national holiday, and, as the horse drawn carriages took the royal family from Parthley Palace to the wedding venue, there was a great sense of excitement in the air. The President described the wedding of Prince Castiel and Dean as “one of the most significant events this country will ever see”, which is by no means an overstatement of the facts. With Castiel as the first in line to the throne, it wasn’t an event that was going to slip by everyone unnoticed.

As the royal procession made its way to the wedding venue, over at Elverston House, Dean Winchester was getting ready. Dean is making history not only as being part of the first same sex couple within the American royal family, but also as the first commoner to marry into it. Dean spent most of his life growing up in Lawrence, Kansas, and moved to DC when he was 18 after being offered a job at the local rock radio station Purgatory Radio, where he has spent the past seven years working.

The event was broadcasted on live television across the world, with early figures estimating that over 200 million US citizens watched at least some part of the broadcast, with a total global estimate standing at 175 million viewers. It was also livestreamed on the Palace’s official YouTube channel, with 75 million streams recorded – breaking the Guinness World Record for “Most Live Streams for a Single Event” which was previously set at the wedding of Prince Arthur and Guinevere in 2011 at 72 million.

There were approximately fifteen hundred guests at the wedding, a smaller number than what were at the wedding of Prince Castiel and Lady Hannah Milton before the Prince put a sudden stop to proceedings. This gave the wedding a more personal atmosphere, and although the couple had to invite certain people, such as the British royal family and the President, there was a strong feeling that this wedding was very much for them to show how much they loved each other, rather than serving as a political playing piece. Dean’s brother, Sam Winchester, a student at Stanford University, was Dean’s best man, and Prince Castiel’s cousin Prince Gabriel was his.

They said their vows, they exchanged rings, and then went back to the palace in a horse drawn carriage, to the joyous shouts of the thousands of people lining the streets. The crowds were then allowed to move forward down Palace Road and stand outside the gates to wait for the newlyweds to come out onto the balcony and have the customary kiss. The King, Queen, Prince Castiel’s brothers Prince Balthazar and Prince Samandriel joined the happy couple on the balcony along with many other members of the royal family. 

The couple are now going to spend two weeks on honeymoon together before returning to Elverston House, which will become their official residence.

_ _

## A HAPPILY EVER AFTER?

_After HRH Prince Castiel came out last year, the question on most people’s minds was what this meant for the future of the United States. Now, after his marriage to Dean Winchester two weeks ago, we ask the questions that the world is dying to know the answers to._

It’s a Tuesday when we’re let into Elverston House, which is now the official residence of HRH Prince Castiel and his husband Dean Winchester. After their marriage on May 20th 2016 at Washington National Cathedral, the pair have enjoyed two weeks away on their honeymoon, but have now returned, ready to face whatever the world is going to put in front of them.

Which has the potential to be quite a lot, and also serious. As they are the first married gay couple within the royal House of Novak, and with Prince Castiel as the first in line to the throne, backlash has been expected, and judging by the amount that has happened already, probably won’t stop anytime soon. However, as they sit side by side on a couch this particular Tuesday afternoon, it’s clear from the way that they sit together, how they look at each other and the smiles that they share that they are an extremely happy couple who aren’t going to let something like the backlash they’ve received from their marriage come between them. They look much happier, we presume, than if Prince Castiel’s marriage to Lady Hannah Milton had gone ahead and we were sitting here interviewing them and not Prince Castiel and Dean.

“Oh, yes,” HRH says. “I couldn’t put myself, or her for that matter, through the many years of lies and deceit that would have followed that marriage. As it was, the engagement itself was one we both knew wasn’t formed out of love.”

It seems that his marriage to Dean was formed out of love, though.

“Definitely. The thing you have to understand about royal marriages, particularly ones in years gone by, is that they were used as political moves to keep the monarchy from being abolished. If you look at the people in Congress a hundred years ago, you’ll find that a scary amount of people in those seats had ties to the royal family in some way. It was when I met Dean that I finally realized that I didn’t have a life of misery by doing whatever my parents told me to. That I could be rebellious and take leaf out of Gabriel’s book, as it were.”

Ah, Gabriel. Perhaps the most well-known member of the royal family after HM King Charles, HM Queen Naomi and HRH Prince Castiel – the one that most people remember from the Las Vegas scandal of 2008 and the infamous parties that he likes to throw frequently on the royal yacht _Ingrid_. He’s someone that has always lived life to the fullest and has never seemed bothered by what others think of him – but what we wonder is what he thinks of Dean and Castiel’s relationship.

“He was actually the first person I came out to,” Castiel reveals. “So I think a part of him kind of expected that I was going to ‘run off into the sunset and have my big rainbow wedding’, as he put it.”

“He’s been incredibly supportive right from the beginning, though,” Dean adds. “Even when Cas was still engaged to [Lady] Hannah, he could still see that mine and Cas’s relationship was the one that would actually end in marriage.”

And what a wedding it was. With some fifteen hundred guests at the ceremony in the Cathedral, it didn’t break any records in that regard – in 1985 at the wedding of the then Prince Charles and Lady Naomi Angelica, there were some 2,000 guests – but in terms of how it has affected the United States and the world as a whole, it is not too farfetched to say that it was one of the most significant events ever to have taken place.

After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same sex marriage back in June 2015, something that seemed inevitable after Prince Castiel’s public coming out in the tabloid newspaper _Court Park Times_ just days before, it looked like things were taking a step in the right direction, but behind the closed doors of Parthley Palace, proceedings weren’t going quite so smoothly.

It has been no secret to the world that Queen Naomi has always been very traditional in her views – in fact, she was one of people that was strongly against the same sex marriage bill. So we hope it’s not presumptuous to suggest that her reaction to the Prince’s coming out wasn’t something many want to experience.

“It was difficult for mother at first, yes,” Castiel says. “She’s always been very strong in her beliefs and anything that goes against them is, in her eyes, wrong. It was one of the main reasons I stayed in the closet for as long as I did: being the first in line to the throne, there have always been a lot of expectations placed upon me, and getting married to a woman and having children so that the royal line of succession continues was just one of those many expectations.

“She was quite within her rights to react the way she did – she was in shock after I walked out of the wedding and at first I think she hoped that we’d just arrange another date and it would be the big state occasion everyone imagined, but that, of course, wasn’t the case.”

No, it wasn’t. However, Queen Naomi’s views were ones that a lot of other citizens seemed to also have. Following Castiel’s coming out, his engagement and marriage to Dean, there has been a lot of propaganda going around saying that when the time comes, Dean shouldn’t be allowed to rule alongside Castiel, or that Castiel shouldn’t be allowed to rule at all and that the crown should instead go to someone else, like his cousin Lucifer (which is impossible, because Lucifer was disowned from the royal family in 2005). What we wonder is, have they seen any of this propaganda, and what do they make of it?

“I think it’s ridiculous,” Dean says. “I think it’s exactly the image that the United States needs, a country with two Kings.”

“Quite,” Castiel agrees. “With the United States’ political position in the world, being a country with two Kings could potentially make countries that have previously ignored them more aware of LGBTQ issues.”

But will it be that – a country with two Kings? Dean was made Duke of California after his marriage to Castiel, but there was no Prince title in sight. There should have been, because laws dating back to the start of the United States monarchy in the late 1700s states that “any person who marries into the immediate royal family, unless they have a title of a higher rank, will gain the title of Duke/Duchess, except if they are marrying the first in line to the throne, in which case they will be given the title of Prince/Princess, and King/Queen in time should they so wish.” As Dean did marry the first in line to the throne, shouldn’t he be a Prince?

“Well, technically speaking, yes,” Castiel says. “However as those laws also only apply to heterosexual relationships and marriages, and we don’t fall into that category. We’re fighting it, though.”

So, hopefully, when the time comes, Dean will also be King. But doesn’t being a country with two Kings also have the potential to put the United States in difficult positions with countries where being LGBTQ is illegal, or even punishable by death?

“It’s a sad reality, but yes, it does,” Castiel admits. “I would hope that by the time I’m King that things have moved forward in such countries, but any issues will be dealt with appropriately if and when they arise. However, in the mean time we plan to do as much as we can for LGBTQ rights in the United States and any other country willing to listen.”

Like attending Pride events across the country, we suppose.

“Yes, absolutely,” Dean says. “We’ve already confirmed Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Las Vegas and Orlando – we want to get to as many as possible, naturally.”

This must be quite an experience for Dean, becoming a member of the royal family. He’s gone from being a host at local rock radio station Purgatory Radio to an internationally famous person practically overnight – but has his life really changed that much?

“In some ways, yes, but in others, no,” Dean says. “I get recognized everywhere I go, which is a bit of a nuisance, because I’ve never had to deal with that, and I still have no idea how they [the tabloids] managed to make it front page news when I went to Harvelle’s Roadhouse and ordered a different flavor of pie than the one I usually have, but at the same time, life is the same. My brother’s still at law school, I still have an extensive collection of classic rock records, I still love Cas. Yeah, it’s different, but it’s a good different, definitely.”

And the million-dollar question: did you realize who he was when you first met HRH, Dean?

The two look share a look and burst out laughing. “I had no idea when I first met him,” Dean admits. “I was drunk and I thought he was hot and that was about it. It wasn’t until the next morning when I woke up and saw him sleeping on the other side of my bed that I was like ‘what the hell have I done?’”

You don’t regret it now, though.

“I think that although it’s fair to say that our first meeting wasn’t the traditional way to do things in the eyes of the royal family, I don’t think I would have had it any other way,” Castiel says. “The second time I went to Heaven, I went there just hoping that I’d bump into Dean again – and as luck should have it, so I did. I also think I was incredibly lucky in the fact that Dean didn’t leak our story to the press when he very easily could have.”

Was that one of the things that made you think that maybe Dean wouldn’t be totally against being a permanent part of your life?

“There were a lot of factors, but yes, that made me have immense faith in Dean,” Castiel says. “Regardless of what anyone else says, thinks or does, Dean and I are in this together till the end.”

Well, we wish them every happiness with their life together. Whatever life throws at them, we’re sure that we’ll support them no matter, as we’re sure you will too.

_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! Come and hang out with me on [tumblr](http://pllsetskyonice.tumblr.com/) for a questionable mix of fandoms and ships

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Graphics for Read All About It (#PrinceMystery)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10646460) by [lotrspnfangirlgraphics (lotrspnfangirl)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lotrspnfangirl/pseuds/lotrspnfangirlgraphics)




End file.
